tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67807600069741946932017-08-17T04:04:07.574-07:00Off World Girl's Terrestrial Com ChannelMy blog of geeky, nerdy sci-fi &amp; computer stuff.OffWorld Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239467069925469355noreply@blogger.comBlogger105125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780760006974194693.post-15902143563697037102017-05-31T16:41:00.000-07:002017-05-31T16:41:07.695-07:00BIG BLOG UPDATE!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-y3eG-QXqgLM/WS9SKEldtcI/AAAAAAAABPA/ljDFoLS6nWUctzrs2o_RhCKXrucva-O0gCLcB/s1600/PenGirl%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="353" data-original-width="1032" height="218" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-y3eG-QXqgLM/WS9SKEldtcI/AAAAAAAABPA/ljDFoLS6nWUctzrs2o_RhCKXrucva-O0gCLcB/s640/PenGirl%2Bcopy.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now that the english-language version of CLIP STUDIO PAINT has an Assets/Launcher app, the Japanese version has actual Cloud storage, and the format for 3D Materials has changed it was time for another Big Blog Update! &nbsp;Here's the rundown:</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://offworldgirl.blogspot.com/p/introduction-to-clip-studio-suite.html">Introduction to Clip Studio Suite</a></b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://offworldgirl.blogspot.com/p/introduction-to-clip-studio-suite.html"><br /></a></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">More like a "re-introduction." &nbsp;This is based off what was originally written on the Unofficial Translations page but has been rewritten and moved to it's own page.</span><b><a href="http://offworldgirl.blogspot.com/p/clip-studio-unofficial-english.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></a></b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://offworldgirl.blogspot.com/p/clip-studio-unofficial-english.html">Unofficial English Translations</a></b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have completely new english translations for both the “legacy” and 1.6.3 versions of the Japanese suite, plus I wrote patch scripts for both Windows and Mac. Should be a lot less painful process now, but still requires installing specific versions.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://offworldgirl.blogspot.com/p/installing-synching-sharing-materials.html">Installing, Sharing and Synching Materials</a></b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Again, this used to be at the bottom of the translations page, but it's grown into a enough info to be on its own page now. &nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is now possible in version 1.6.3 to share installed materials between different language versions and, with a cloud storage drive, between installations on different computers.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://offworldgirl.blogspot.com/2017/05/clip-studio-launcherassets-16x-japanese.html">Assets/Launcher app (Japanese version)</a></b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It used to be mostly an app launcher front-end and storefront. Now it does a lot of other stuff so I dive deep.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://offworldgirl.blogspot.com/2017/04/the-clip-studio-16x-assets-app.html"><b><br /></b></a></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://offworldgirl.blogspot.com/2017/04/the-clip-studio-16x-assets-app.html"><b>Assets/Launcher app (English version)</b></a></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is new territory for users of the english-language version. &nbsp;Unfortunately it isn't as fully featured or functional as the Japanese one, but it's a start. &nbsp;We in the West *finally* have legit access to the Clip Assets Site!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://offworldgirl.blogspot.com/2017/05/clip-studio-launcher-legacy-version.html"><br /></a></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://offworldgirl.blogspot.com/2017/05/clip-studio-launcher-legacy-version.html"><b>Assets/Launcher app (Legacy version)</b></a></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The good ol' Legacy version ain't what it used to be. &nbsp;Lots of functionality has been purposely hobbled in favor of the new version.</span><br /><b><br /></b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://offworldgirl.blogspot.com/p/part-7-old-vs-new-model-formats.html"><b>Old vs. New 3D Model Formats</b></a></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since version 1.6.0 the native format for 3D materials has changed, as have the apps you use to create them. COORDINATE is (kind of) done. &nbsp;MODELER is the future, but it's not free - except when it is. &nbsp;If you're making 3D materials for PAINT you're going to want to look this over.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><br /> <br /><style type="text/css">p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px} </style>OffWorld Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239467069925469355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780760006974194693.post-71277241981595833602017-05-29T18:44:00.000-07:002017-06-01T12:53:12.309-07:00Clip Studio Launcher/Assets 1.6.x (Japanese Version)<span style="font-family: inherit;">Those of us outside of Japan still don’t have the other parts of the Clip Studio Suite that would allow us to MAKE most of the new materials.&nbsp; However, the english-language Clip Studio Assets app won’t even let you upload and share the things we can easily make like custom brushes, patterns, or 2D backgrounds, etc. &nbsp;That’s because they removed those functions from the the Clip Studio Launcher/Assets app. &nbsp;So let's take a look at the original Japanese version!</span><br /><div class="p2"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>NOTE:</b>&nbsp;The following screenshots are of the Japanese app with the&nbsp;<a href="http://offworldgirl.blogspot.com/p/clip-studio-unofficial-english.html">Unofficial English Translations</a>&nbsp;applied to the user interface. &nbsp;However, any content which is loaded from the Celsys servers is still shown in Japanese.</span></i><br /><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></i></div><div class="p2"><h2><span style="font-family: inherit;">START SCREEN</span></h2><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-L4GaWUA4s0c/WSnfNObTTII/AAAAAAAABDc/2h9KN59CVIQhLJEgQ9dVr0bK5J46VszJACLcB/s1600/CSL_Start.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="757" data-original-width="1140" height="424" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-L4GaWUA4s0c/WSnfNObTTII/AAAAAAAABDc/2h9KN59CVIQhLJEgQ9dVr0bK5J46VszJACLcB/s640/CSL_Start.png" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Clip Studio Launcher 1.6.3 "Start Screen" (Japanese version w/ translation kit applied)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="p2"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br /><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Notice all those extra buttons at the top?&nbsp; Notice the big “Cloud” button that says “0.0GB / 10GB” at the top?&nbsp; Yeah, that’s because the Japanese users get an actual cloud with 10 gigs of storage.&nbsp; Whatever document they’re working on will automatically be backed-up to the cloud, that's what the "Works" section up top is about. &nbsp;It shows the four most recently opened documents.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Whenever you are uploading/downloading anything from the Celsys Assets site or Cloud the double-arrow icon in the toolbar will show how many transfer jobs are in process. &nbsp;Note that this is not the number of <i>files</i> being uploaded or downloaded, but the number of <i>connections</i>. &nbsp;For example, when you do the initial gigantic download of materials from the Assets site it will show as a single connection, even though it's about 1,500 files. &nbsp;If you want to see what's going on in detail, click the double-arrow icon and this <b>Communication Management </b>window will pop up, where you also have some control over those individual connections:</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xWgIXK5_5r4/WOWmCIFPqEI/AAAAAAAABAI/CS1j7Vxb9pEBoCT1ygrV2jGgFGUwq5zmgCPcB/s1600/CommunicationsManagement.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="629" data-original-width="960" height="417" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xWgIXK5_5r4/WOWmCIFPqEI/AAAAAAAABAI/CS1j7Vxb9pEBoCT1ygrV2jGgFGUwq5zmgCPcB/s640/CommunicationsManagement.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">When uploads/downloads are in progress you will see a progress bar for each active connection.</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><h3><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><b>Legacy Version</b></span></h3><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you have the pre-1.5 versions of the apps installed you'll also have an earlier version of Launcher to manage Materials and Work for the "Legacy" apps. &nbsp;The Legacy apps cannot make use of the Cloud, newer format 3D materials, or use an alternate location for Materials or Settings. &nbsp;This is why 1.5+ install into a different folder isolated from the Legacy apps. &nbsp;It is possible to share one set of materials between the Japanese and English 1.6.3+ apps, but not between the Japanese and English Legacy apps or between the Legacy apps and the current ones.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>Click <a href="http://offworldgirl.blogspot.com/2017/05/clip-studio-launcher-legacy-version.html">HERE</a> to read my post on the last Legacy Launcher release, version 1.1.7.<br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><h4></h4><h2><span style="font-family: inherit;">WORK SECTION</span></h2><span style="font-family: inherit;">There’s an entire sub-section called “Work” in this Clip Studio app that lets you pick documents to load from the Cloud.&nbsp; Clicking the "Work" button in the top bar takes you to a full-fledge, cloud-connected, project management section:&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fI_GdtNJx-o/WSnh5dlS9iI/AAAAAAAABDo/hP-OJandtzED83ZaaaZcMJS_nD7O9FtHACLcB/s1600/CSL_Work.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="757" data-original-width="1140" height="424" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fI_GdtNJx-o/WSnh5dlS9iI/AAAAAAAABDo/hP-OJandtzED83ZaaaZcMJS_nD7O9FtHACLcB/s640/CSL_Work.png" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Clip Studio Launcher 1.6.3 "Work" Section (Japanese version w/ translation kit applied)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">There are some default "drawers" for All, Favorites, Work (including PAINT docs), and that last one that missed getting translated says "The Works" which shows documents excluding PAINT docs. &nbsp;You can organize your work any way you like, including creating new drawers by either right+clicking in the middle column and selecting "Create New" or pressing the [+] button at the bottom of the middle column. &nbsp;Here I've added a new drawer for all things related to my caveman character:</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-stf0Tnv2Fh4/WSnkrjJ9hFI/AAAAAAAABD4/WElSTIZv73gwVVaFszFYvrEktEO0eCnXgCEw/s1600/CSL_WorkOrganizer.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="757" data-original-width="1140" height="424" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-stf0Tnv2Fh4/WSnkrjJ9hFI/AAAAAAAABD4/WElSTIZv73gwVVaFszFYvrEktEO0eCnXgCEw/s640/CSL_WorkOrganizer.png" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"Grunk's World" Drawer added to Launcher's "Work" Section</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Then, if you click the "Trash" icon to get rid of it you'll see the following warning about deleting an entire Work drawer:</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bP8qxB27vZM/WSnl2Vc1lII/AAAAAAAABEA/89HVmy61YP4govIrQh323tYcglw-CjtGQCLcB/s1600/CSL_WorkFolderDeleteWarning.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="175" data-original-width="847" height="132" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bP8qxB27vZM/WSnl2Vc1lII/AAAAAAAABEA/89HVmy61YP4govIrQh323tYcglw-CjtGQCLcB/s640/CSL_WorkFolderDeleteWarning.png" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Work Drawer Delete Warning</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Unfortunately it's not a great translation. &nbsp;It should read:</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Please note the following points in deletion of Work drawer:</span></i><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><ul><li><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">This only deletes the labeled drawer. &nbsp;To delete the actual files move them to the Trash.</span></i></li><li><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">If the data in this drawer is not synchronized with the Cloud, the cloud data will also be deleted.</span></i></li><li><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you are using the same data on another PC, that data will not be usable if it was not completely downloaded.</span></i></li><li><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Works "Not Found" will be deleted from this list and will not affect the actual file.</span></i></li></ul><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">You can also right+click on individual items in the drawers which pulls up this context menu:</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-C4j_a2ws3LQ/WSnn4MfWXVI/AAAAAAAABEM/tgb59W01rjsyZtHZpadORJ9Tj7CltBD5wCLcB/s1600/CSL_WorkItemMenu.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="757" data-original-width="1140" height="424" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-C4j_a2ws3LQ/WSnn4MfWXVI/AAAAAAAABEM/tgb59W01rjsyZtHZpadORJ9Tj7CltBD5wCLcB/s640/CSL_WorkItemMenu.png" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Item Context Menu shows a number of additional options (not all of which are valid outside of Japan)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you select "Delete" from that menu you are asked to confirm it first:</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CRVzc9t07WE/WSnoWeA785I/AAAAAAAABEQ/rbb00NK_0zk2LGhefDbzf5c0wIXH55gmwCLcB/s1600/CSL_WorkItemDeleteWarning.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="109" data-original-width="717" height="96" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CRVzc9t07WE/WSnoWeA785I/AAAAAAAABEQ/rbb00NK_0zk2LGhefDbzf5c0wIXH55gmwCLcB/s640/CSL_WorkItemDeleteWarning.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">That's because it doesn't just remove it from the organizing drawer, it puts it into the Trash for actual removal just like you dragged it out of a Finder/Explorer window.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><b><br /></b></i><i><b>NOTE:</b> If you select a Work item and intend to open it in PAINT be aware that it will open in the Japanese version of PAINT. &nbsp;Also be aware that the latest version of PAINT will likely be set as the default for opening .clip or .lip files when double-clicking them in your operating system's file manager unless you change the default opener for those file types. &nbsp;</i></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><br /></i><i>This can get confusing if you have multiple installations! &nbsp;For example, on my computer if have the Legacy Japanese Paint 1.3.2, Legacy English Paint 1.4.4, Japanese PAINT 1.6.4, and English PAINT 1.6.2 installed on my machine. &nbsp;It wanted to open all .lip/.clip files in the Japanese 1.6.4 because it was the latest version and the last one I installed/updated.</i></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><br /></i><i>You can always override this behavior by right+clicking on the file and telling it which specific version to use when opening the file. &nbsp;But simply double-clicking may open it in an unintended installation.</i></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><h2><span style="font-family: inherit;">SEARCH FOR MATERIALS/ASSETS</span></h2><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">In the left-hand column there is an option to search for materials. &nbsp;This is the same as the "Assets" section in the non-Japanese versions of the Launcher app.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Pa6zk1ynm7U/WSn4d6RcfJI/AAAAAAAABFI/7i2pFBA1boUJPQnPqmo2AM5wAPyNV4ynACLcB/s1600/CSL_Search.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="757" data-original-width="1140" height="424" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Pa6zk1ynm7U/WSn4d6RcfJI/AAAAAAAABFI/7i2pFBA1boUJPQnPqmo2AM5wAPyNV4ynACLcB/s640/CSL_Search.png" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Clip Studio Launcher 1.6.3 Materials Search Screen</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The first thing you'll notice is that most everything is still in Japanese, which can make it difficult to use assuming you don't know the language. &nbsp;This is because Launcher is just acting a web browser to show you the Assets website. &nbsp;I strongly recommend, therefore, that you just open the website in your web browser directly instead. &nbsp;Specifically in Google Chrome since it will offer to auto-translate it for you. &nbsp;The direct link to the Japanese Clip Studio Assets website is: <a href="https://assets.clip-studio.com/ja-jp/">https://assets.clip-studio.com/ja-jp/</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-x9As_U-91jU/WSn7Kt8qdkI/AAAAAAAABFU/Me7GwoMINuwpvupATMWE7g5FENdQQyA5QCLcB/s1600/ClipSite.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="802" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-x9As_U-91jU/WSn7Kt8qdkI/AAAAAAAABFU/Me7GwoMINuwpvupATMWE7g5FENdQQyA5QCLcB/s640/ClipSite.png" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Japanese Clip Studio Assets Website (auto-translated by Google Translate)&nbsp;</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: inherit;">One big difference you'll notice between the Japanese Assets site and the one presented in the English version is that many of the items have PRICES listed in "G" (Gold) or "CP" (Clippy Points). &nbsp;This is these are the currencies of the Assets website. &nbsp;You can buy "Gold" and like real money it doesn't expire. &nbsp;You can earn "Clippy Points" through various actions (like rating materials) and use it to buy goods that will accept them, but unused points expire at the end of each month. &nbsp;At least that's my understanding of how it works. &nbsp;See the section below titled "<a href="#passbooks">Gold and Clippy Passbooks</a>."</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Once you've downloaded a Material it appears in the Materials Manager and in the Materials Palette of all the installed Clip Studio apps linked to that Materials collection (I state it that way because, unless you've specifically set different language installations to share Materials they are otherwise isolated from each other).</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Nm1jRrYYXgg/WOWmc2utbTI/AAAAAAAABAI/852SsQVWPrIy4jZFG4tprVQHK48mAUf2gCPcB/s1600/DownloadedMaterials.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="527" data-original-width="555" height="378" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Nm1jRrYYXgg/WOWmc2utbTI/AAAAAAAABAI/852SsQVWPrIy4jZFG4tprVQHK48mAUf2gCPcB/s400/DownloadedMaterials.png" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Downloaded Material in the PAINT Materials Palette</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Once it is in your collection you can move it under whichever Materials Folder make sense for organization purposes.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ok, so what happens if you accidentally DELETED the downloaded material? &nbsp;You can simply go and re-download it! &nbsp;There are a couple different ways to go about that:</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">1. Download from Assets Website</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WbQCyH7hYdw/WSn-OGVhQRI/AAAAAAAABFg/syOKJonpM1AzoyhDCaEFgMuVg6RSBZbpACLcB/s1600/ClipSiteDropMenu_MyDLsy.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="382" data-original-width="205" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WbQCyH7hYdw/WSn-OGVhQRI/AAAAAAAABFg/syOKJonpM1AzoyhDCaEFgMuVg6RSBZbpACLcB/s320/ClipSiteDropMenu_MyDLsy.png" width="171" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_qagPRRN-6A/WOWm4oC_F2I/AAAAAAAABAI/5jYdSi1ErwwbNp1uJ_PMW26RwDbkjEIigCPcB/s1600/MyDownloads.png" imageanchor="1"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="722" data-original-width="867" height="532" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_qagPRRN-6A/WOWm4oC_F2I/AAAAAAAABAI/5jYdSi1ErwwbNp1uJ_PMW26RwDbkjEIigCPcB/s640/MyDownloads.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Then you either click on the Download icon in the lower right corner of the item(s) to download or you can click on the thumbnail and go to the Item Detail page:</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DUGP5v9bfn4/WSoCCNNSMAI/AAAAAAAABFs/KnX53I7uWSsym6J8wZw3YsG3wT0GPJifACLcB/s1600/Redownload_ItemViewWEB.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="647" data-original-width="949" height="436" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DUGP5v9bfn4/WSoCCNNSMAI/AAAAAAAABFs/KnX53I7uWSsym6J8wZw3YsG3wT0GPJifACLcB/s640/Redownload_ItemViewWEB.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">2. Download with Launcher App</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PEo-449rclw/WSoCIsF1mYI/AAAAAAAABFw/g2owojc9_CEb6TaxnZI01vjn8VEArYXkgCLcB/s1600/CSL_DLs.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="288" data-original-width="224" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PEo-449rclw/WSoCIsF1mYI/AAAAAAAABFw/g2owojc9_CEb6TaxnZI01vjn8VEArYXkgCLcB/s1600/CSL_DLs.png" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">You'll see the same page as if you had gone to the website in your browser, the difference being that it will be in Japanese with no option to translate it:</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eyB5CeGjvf8/WSoCcvbolnI/AAAAAAAABF0/3jQf3bDiySMvZ-9bbINLFk1iTfxt7f7cwCLcB/s1600/CSL_DLs2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="469" data-original-width="911" height="328" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eyB5CeGjvf8/WSoCcvbolnI/AAAAAAAABF0/3jQf3bDiySMvZ-9bbINLFk1iTfxt7f7cwCLcB/s640/CSL_DLs2.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">So, again, either click the Download icon in the lower right corner of the item(s) to download or click on the thumbnail to go to the Item Description page:</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jUjp1ovrOfs/WSoCpf2LiTI/AAAAAAAABF4/LX9716RFLIICnMTXfvHkbfywdyVpTAZcgCLcB/s1600/CSL_Redownload_ItemView.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="663" data-original-width="911" height="464" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jUjp1ovrOfs/WSoCpf2LiTI/AAAAAAAABF4/LX9716RFLIICnMTXfvHkbfywdyVpTAZcgCLcB/s640/CSL_Redownload_ItemView.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Again, because you're in the Launcher app there is no option to translate it. &nbsp;But the big red rectangle button in the upper right will re-download the item to your local Materials.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><h2><span style="font-family: inherit;">PLUG-IN STORE</span></h2><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">In the left-hand navigation column, right below the Material Search you'll see something called the "Plug-In Store." &nbsp;In my opinion the lack of plugins for PAINT is one of its greatest weaknesses compared to other graphics software. &nbsp;Part of this may be because the ONLY source for plug-ins, third-party or otherwise, is through Celsys itself. &nbsp;Even if you acquire them by *cough* other means, &nbsp;or download them into the Japanese version of PAINT and manually copy them across to the English version, they won't do you any good. Because every time you start PAINT it does a validation check on all the installed plugins and won't let you use ones that don't pass the test. &nbsp;That means for users of the non-Japanese versions of PAINT the *only* plugins available to us are the default ones Celsys includes with the program.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WO10Y-1IOb8/WSorKhXd6xI/AAAAAAAABJU/OUwYC7CSCQkYz2KHQxdXcs9hpH5a-pUMgCLcB/s1600/CSL_PluginStore.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="757" data-original-width="1140" height="424" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WO10Y-1IOb8/WSorKhXd6xI/AAAAAAAABJU/OUwYC7CSCQkYz2KHQxdXcs9hpH5a-pUMgCLcB/s640/CSL_PluginStore.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The "Store" page is pulled from the Celsys servers and isn't available through the regular website (at least not that I could find), so it cannot be translated in-app. &nbsp;However, I took screenshots and ran them through Google Translate on my phone and here's what the list says as of 27 May 2017:</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><table border="1" style="word-break: normal;"><tbody><tr><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">TITLE</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">SELLER</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">OS</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">DATE</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">UPDATED</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">PRICE</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">DL'd?</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Stripes Filter</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">tempura</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Windows, Mac OS X</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">2017/05/23</span></td><td></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">190 G</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not Yet</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">2 Tones Alpha Filter</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">tempura</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Windows, Mac OS X</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">2017/05/23</span></td><td></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">70 G</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not Yet</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Scale Filter</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">tempura</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Windows, Mac OS X</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">2017/05/23</span></td><td></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">190 G</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not Yet</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Posterization Alpha</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">tempura</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Windows, Mac OS X</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">2017/05/23</span></td><td></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">70 G</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not Yet</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Stellar Glow</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Koizumi</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Windows, Mac OS X</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">2017/05/23</span></td><td></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">500 G</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not Yet</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Fluctuation distortion (filter)</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Koizumi</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Windows, Mac OS X</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">2017/04/18</span></td><td></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">200 G</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not Yet</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Replace white with transparent / Replace black with transparent (filter)</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">tempura</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Windows, Mac OS X</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">2017/04/18</span></td><td></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">120 G</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not Yet</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Stripes (filter)</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">tempura</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Windows, Mac OS X</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">2017/03/30</span></td><td></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">190 G</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not Yet</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Add noise (filter)</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">tempura</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Windows, Mac OS X</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">2017/03/30</span></td><td></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">190 G</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not Yet</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Radiation glow (filter)</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Koizumi</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Windows, Mac OS X</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">2017/03/30</span></td><td></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">400 G</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not Yet</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Hue Saturation Lightness modification (filter)</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Yumeimoto play</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Windows, Mac OS X</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">2016/12/27</span></td><td></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">500 G</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not Yet</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Glow (filter)</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Koizumi</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Windows, Mac OS X</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">2016/12/26</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">100 G</span></td><td></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not Yet</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">HSV band correction (filter)</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">uochang</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Windows</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">2016/07/11</span></td><td></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">0 G</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not Yet</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Layer 3 D (filter)</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Koizumi</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Windows, Mac OS X</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">2016/07/11</span></td><td></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">0 G</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not Yet</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Α value Level correction (filter)</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dreaming music</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Windows, Mac OS X</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">2016/06/01</span></td><td></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">500 G</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not Yet</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pixelate crystal (filter)</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">grill Palzer</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Windows, Mac OS X</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">2016/06/01</span></td><td></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">0 G</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not Yet</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Automatic shadow color specification (filter)</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Yui</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Windows</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">2016/04/20</span></td><td></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">0 G</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not Yet</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Automatic anime color conversion (filter)</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Yui</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Windows</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">2016/04/20</span></td><td></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">0 G</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not Yet</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Replace designated color (filter)</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Yui</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Windows</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">2016/04/20</span></td><td></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">0 G</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not Yet</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Point light source (filter)</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">htp 32</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Windows</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">2016/04/20</span></td><td></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">0 G</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not Yet</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Analog style Kake Ami (filter)</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ika Flower</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Windows</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">2016/04/20</span></td><td></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">0 G</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not Yet</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Retro filter 2.0 (filter)</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Manga</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Windows, Mac OS X</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">2016/04/20</span></td><td></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">0 G</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not Yet</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Concentrated line (filter)</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Matcha</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Windows, Mac OS X</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">2016/04/20</span></td><td></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">0 G</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not Yet</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Streamline (filter)</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Matcha</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Windows, Mac OS X</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">2016/04/20</span></td><td></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">0 G</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not Yet</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Color unevenness (filter)</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Manga</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Windows, Mac OS X</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">2016/04/20</span></td><td></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">0 G</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not Yet</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Categories (Filter)</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Manga</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Windows, Mac OS X</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">2016/04/20</span></td><td></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">0 G</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not Yet</span></td></tr><tr><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">PDF I / O Plug-in</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Celsys</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Windows, Mac OS X</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">2014/12/25</span></td><td></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">500 G</span></td><td><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not Yet</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><h2><span style="font-family: inherit;">MATERIALS SECTION</span></h2><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The button to the right of the Works section takes you to Materials Management, which is just like the CSP Materials Palette, except it also allows you to UPLOAD custom materials you’ve created to the Clip Site:</span></div><div class="p2"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_CAIAigAEw8/WSnw5YPz5II/AAAAAAAABEs/bQmRF-OouFoPLejbyb8sH4tXPD9ydkIFQCLcB/s1600/CSL_Materials.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="757" data-original-width="1140" height="424" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_CAIAigAEw8/WSnw5YPz5II/AAAAAAAABEs/bQmRF-OouFoPLejbyb8sH4tXPD9ydkIFQCLcB/s640/CSL_Materials.png" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Clip Studio Launcher 1.6.3 "Materials" Section</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="p2"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Those features were removed from the English version of the Clip Studio app because it’s not actually connected to a “cloud” at all.&nbsp; It’s little more than a web browser for the Clip Site, which is disappointing.</span></div><div class="p2"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Actually the Japanese version has a bunch more options even on that drop-down menu. &nbsp;Here's what they say after you apply the Unofficial Translation:</span></div><div class="p2"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FbtlDUTX5uM/WSnzcKWxinI/AAAAAAAABE4/YO8aOphZU5kBW-3NLdUrN60T1TrIupm-wCLcB/s1600/CSL_GearMenu.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="559" data-original-width="756" height="472" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FbtlDUTX5uM/WSnzcKWxinI/AAAAAAAABE4/YO8aOphZU5kBW-3NLdUrN60T1TrIupm-wCLcB/s640/CSL_GearMenu.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="p2"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">And here is the Help Menu, though what it links to is in Japanese (of course):</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NrxXKW-l_eg/WSo2kS3EVwI/AAAAAAAABJk/vySMn5gzG9cCf3-KsgbMVE1KJlMIysC_wCLcB/s1600/CSL_HelpMenu.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="257" data-original-width="579" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NrxXKW-l_eg/WSo2kS3EVwI/AAAAAAAABJk/vySMn5gzG9cCf3-KsgbMVE1KJlMIysC_wCLcB/s1600/CSL_HelpMenu.png" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The translation work on that menu isn't perfect, but you can pretty much ignore most of it anyway. &nbsp;The first item just links to a page about how to generally use the materials you download. &nbsp;The second one is general information on output formatting for printers. &nbsp;Good to know, but if you've ever worked with a printing company before they've probably told you how they want files formatted (granted the lack of support for "job" files means you have to set everything up by hand). &nbsp;The Kindle guide is really just using Kindle Direct Publishing tools. &nbsp;EPUP is only available as an output option from PAINT EX (not available in Debut or PRO versions). &nbsp;The "Convenience Store Print Guide" is for sending documents to a 7-Eleven in Japan, which offer copy-shop services. &nbsp;The "Cloud Guide" is probably good to look over since that's a new thing. &nbsp;Keeping in mind that you'll need to run the pages, which all open in your browser, through some kind of auto-translation first.</div></div><div class="p1"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><h3 id="material_info"><span style="font-family: inherit;">MATERIAL INFORMATION</span></h3><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you plan to try uploading and sharing your custom Materials you MUST include information about each item. &nbsp;However you can edit the local information for any Material you have, for example providing notes for other users on your computer or reminders to yourself about if, where, when, or how you've used a given material. &nbsp;Regardless of why you're checking or editing the item's information here is how you do it.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">1. Double-click on the item in the Material Manager</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-n4M9PUUK9vQ/WSoE0IaHj-I/AAAAAAAABGM/bH0Scz88HLcHTDiru83wmNDIAbe6nMv-gCLcB/s1600/CSL_Edit1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="757" data-original-width="1140" height="424" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-n4M9PUUK9vQ/WSoE0IaHj-I/AAAAAAAABGM/bH0Scz88HLcHTDiru83wmNDIAbe6nMv-gCLcB/s640/CSL_Edit1.png" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I have selected my "Grunk" 3D Character file</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">2. Select "Material Information" from the next screen:</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ISMKoKz0-Ho/WSoFEq55e3I/AAAAAAAABGQ/lyMIK-psD8cpgvaO1pbhOCVUncoLwuB2gCLcB/s1600/CSL_Edit2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="757" data-original-width="1140" height="424" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ISMKoKz0-Ho/WSoFEq55e3I/AAAAAAAABGQ/lyMIK-psD8cpgvaO1pbhOCVUncoLwuB2gCLcB/s640/CSL_Edit2.png" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Click the last box "Material Information"</span></td></tr></tbody></table><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>NOTE:</b> This particular material is in the "old" format created with COORDINATE, which has been discontinued. &nbsp;Clicking that second box will no longer open the 3D material in COORDINATE. Once the 3D material has been "registered" as a material in the CLIP STUDIO apps it is obfuscated and can no longer be opened for editing. &nbsp; You'll have to have either the original model parts or at least the .c2fc file.</span></i><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">3. You are taken to the Read-Only Information screen:</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2PCVswwqXVc/WSoHBSW3wzI/AAAAAAAABGc/VNv85c7NK38jaPWfXju3XMitWLRQOypVACLcB/s1600/CSL_Edit0.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="757" data-original-width="1140" height="424" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2PCVswwqXVc/WSoHBSW3wzI/AAAAAAAABGc/VNv85c7NK38jaPWfXju3XMitWLRQOypVACLcB/s640/CSL_Edit0.png" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Click the green "Edit/Publish" button on the right bottom to go into Edit Mode</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: inherit;">4. Item Edit Mode</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Kb5EdlX9CsY/WSoH53EL2uI/AAAAAAAABGw/0VdugDg5FtctlzcRn3WAAAFTSePZJVSWwCLcB/s1600/CSL_Edit3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="656" data-original-width="911" height="460" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Kb5EdlX9CsY/WSoH53EL2uI/AAAAAAAABGw/0VdugDg5FtctlzcRn3WAAAFTSePZJVSWwCLcB/s640/CSL_Edit3.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9S_8W7najcg/WSoH52YNgsI/AAAAAAAABGs/s6JICAhvGd02LEV6uIWD8NBZ9fKaORzjwCLcB/s1600/CSL_Edit3b.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="617" data-original-width="912" height="432" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9S_8W7najcg/WSoH52YNgsI/AAAAAAAABGs/s6JICAhvGd02LEV6uIWD8NBZ9fKaORzjwCLcB/s640/CSL_Edit3b.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RlERjAFZKpo/WSoIlcesD5I/AAAAAAAABG4/nxi8Dt4TXY4gHOmZUwzeTZPLaoOfrpLFQCEw/s1600/CSL_Edit3c.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="304" data-original-width="912" height="212" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RlERjAFZKpo/WSoIlcesD5I/AAAAAAAABG4/nxi8Dt4TXY4gHOmZUwzeTZPLaoOfrpLFQCEw/s640/CSL_Edit3c.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">When you are done editing information in each of the provided boxes press the "Temporarily Saved" button at the bottom. &nbsp;This only updates the information in YOUR local Materials Database.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The "Set Public Information" button is for defining in which application your material may be used and what (if anything) it costs. &nbsp;<b><i>This only matters IF you were planning to upload and share or sell your custom materials on the Clip Studio Assets site.</i></b></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">You will be taken to screen on the Celsys Assets Site server that looks like this:</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6o6OuvNoZEY/WSoLy_2td5I/AAAAAAAABHE/_QYRR9DSm3sSAaoytXBTSLS4BD7nHDGLACLcB/s1600/CSL_Edit4_PublicInfo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="860" data-original-width="726" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6o6OuvNoZEY/WSoLy_2td5I/AAAAAAAABHE/_QYRR9DSm3sSAaoytXBTSLS4BD7nHDGLACLcB/s640/CSL_Edit4_PublicInfo.png" width="540" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Set Public Information Screen for "Grunk" material</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Because this isn't a local page it is in Japanese. &nbsp;Here is what the above screenshot says in English:</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><div style="border: 1px solid #ccc; margin: 12px auto; padding: 20px; width: 70%;"><h2><span style="font-family: inherit;">"Grunk" Public Setting</span></h2><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">* NOTE</span><br /><div class="p1"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: &quot;times&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">Please do not describe conditions (commercial use OK · NG, name display necessary / unnecessary, redistribution prohibited, etc) that you can use the downloaded materials for introduction sentences, commentary · examples of usage, etc., so as to cause confusion of users. The range in which the material can be used is stipulated in the </span><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: &quot;times&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;">ASSETS "license scope"</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: &quot;times&quot; , &quot;times new roman&quot; , serif;"> terms.</span></span></div><div class="p1"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><input type="radio" /> Free &nbsp;<input type="radio" /> Charge</span></div></div><div class="p1"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="border-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid #999999; color: #999999; padding: 2px;">Input in units of 10</span> 0 CLIPPY</span></div><div class="p1"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="p1" style="text-align: right;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.clip-studio.com/clip_site/apps/clipstudio/info_gold_material" style="color: inherit; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">How do I sell materials with GOLD?</a></span></div><div class="p1"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span style="background: #e69138; border-radius: 3px; color: white; font-family: inherit; padding: 2px;">TIPS</span></div><div class="p1"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"></div><ul><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">The upper limit of CLIPPY is 10,000.</span></li></ul><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><div class="p1"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><b>Target software</b></span></div><div class="p1"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><input type="checkbox" /> CLIP STUDIO PAINT PRO / EX</span></div><div class="p1"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><input type="checkbox" /> CLIP STUDIO PAINT DEBUT</span></div><div class="p1"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><input type="checkbox" /> CLIP STUDIO MODELER</span></div><div class="p1"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><input type="checkbox" /> CLIP STUDIO ACTION</span></div><div class="p1"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><input type="checkbox" /> <b>Includes expressions that may make the viewer feel uncomfortable.</b></span></div><div class="p1"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><i>Example: Sexuality, violence, religion · thought, drinking, smoking etc. <span style="color: #3d85c6;">(<a href="https://www.celsys.co.jp/information/rating/" style="color: inherit; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">About rating</a>)</span></i></span></div><div class="p2"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="p2"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="p1" style="background-color: #3d85c6; color: white; margin: 0 auto; text-align: center; width: 90%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"> Temporary Upload </span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><div class="p1" style="background: #cccccc; border-radius: 3px; display: table-cell; padding: 2px;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"> Return </span></div></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The "About rating" in the translation above is a live link to the Celsys page explaining what content is acceptable and what materials would need to tick that checkbox about making viewers uncomfortable.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The "How do I sell materials with GOLD?" is also a live link to the Celsys page explaining it. &nbsp;Basically they pay a 70% royalty on every material sold, so they need legit bank account information and mail a developer contract you have to have a valid ID to accept - and presumably accept with a personal stamp used to "sign" legal documents in Japan. &nbsp;The online form's address section is Japan-only, so I'm reasonably certain selling your items for "Gold" and earning royalties is not available to anyone outside of Japan. &nbsp;If you really want to get into that business you could always contact Celsys directly and see if they'll work with you or make an exception (if you do and they either will or won't please leave a comment about it below).</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b><i><b>NOTE: </b>Whenever you are navigating AWAY from editing any kind of Material information it will show this warning box:</i></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iT0o1kI6-UA/WSomqKVWrjI/AAAAAAAABIc/YLcl0eF6KUkgLkGFahGujP7GEytlDNyNQCLcB/s1600/CSL_EditWarning.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="109" data-original-width="327" height="132" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iT0o1kI6-UA/WSomqKVWrjI/AAAAAAAABIc/YLcl0eF6KUkgLkGFahGujP7GEytlDNyNQCLcB/s400/CSL_EditWarning.png" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><br /></i><i>It tends to show the warning even if you have done a "Temp Save" on your changes. &nbsp;Not sure if that's a bug or just trying to make damn sure you mean to leave the editor?</i></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><h3></h3><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><br /></i></span><br /><h3><span style="font-family: inherit;">UPLOADING MATERIALS?</span></h3><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">So CAN we actually uploading materials? &nbsp;Maybe. &nbsp;I haven't actually tried it yet myself. &nbsp;But so long as you were offering free materials or selling them for "Clippy Points" you probably can.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">We can’t upload Clip Studio Paint native materials created with the English version of PAINT to the Clip Site because the English version of the Launcher/Assets app doesn't have any options to do so. &nbsp;However you can now set different language installations to share one set of materials.</span></div><div class="p2"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you go to the actual <a href="https://assets.clip-studio.com/ja-jp/" target="_blank">Clip Studio Asset Site</a> in your web browser (I recommend doing it in Chrome so it auto-translates for you) you’ll notice that the drop-down under your profile has more options than it does inside the English version of the Clip Studio Assets app:</span></div><div class="p2"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1ezWfMiSzvM/WOWnify1jTI/AAAAAAAAA_w/jm3NYNlt7nUDLnT70vdaguhR6WAKVfklwCLcB/s1600/ClipSiteDropMenu.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1ezWfMiSzvM/WOWnify1jTI/AAAAAAAAA_w/jm3NYNlt7nUDLnT70vdaguhR6WAKVfklwCLcB/s400/ClipSiteDropMenu.png" width="212" /></span></a></div><div class="p2"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Specifically, notice that it has a “New Upload” option that doesn't appear in the english-language version!&nbsp; But don’t get too excited.&nbsp; If you go to that sub-section there are three options:</span></div><div class="p2"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CRnRMfEzc8w/WOWnnnfP5CI/AAAAAAAAA_0/L3MEI2zeuYU52Er2eWVN-6x1eArL9XNgACLcB/s1600/UploadOptions.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="394" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CRnRMfEzc8w/WOWnnnfP5CI/AAAAAAAAA_0/L3MEI2zeuYU52Er2eWVN-6x1eArL9XNgACLcB/s640/UploadOptions.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><div class="p2"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That will ask to open the JAPANESE version of Clip Studio Launcher/Assets app <i>if </i>no version of it is already open. &nbsp;If you have the english-language version of it open it will shift focus to that. &nbsp;If you have the Legacy version open it will shift focus to that. &nbsp;If you want it to open the CURRENT version of the Japanese app either already have it open <i>before</i> you select the option in the browser or have NONE of the Launcher apps open.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">You then select the assets to publish to the Clip Site in the Materials Management section by clicking on it and selecting "Publish Material to Assets." &nbsp;However you should probably add some descriptions and tags before you do that (see Material Management above).</span></div><div class="p2"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The second option takes you to another screen where you can upload <b><i>non-</i></b>Clip Studio materials:</span></div><div class="p2"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mfcC5CX0IPE/WOWnujPbRqI/AAAAAAAAA_4/ffsSaHvBqF0vp8NXT-ibP90M96b16OpxgCLcB/s1600/upload1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="452" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mfcC5CX0IPE/WOWnujPbRqI/AAAAAAAAA_4/ffsSaHvBqF0vp8NXT-ibP90M96b16OpxgCLcB/s640/upload1.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AHcNKGmjD2w/WOWnuj44guI/AAAAAAAAA_8/Vfkw_g18x0wAxeY2ILDb0Rd15L_nCMMdwCLcB/s1600/upload2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="434" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AHcNKGmjD2w/WOWnuj44guI/AAAAAAAAA_8/Vfkw_g18x0wAxeY2ILDb0Rd15L_nCMMdwCLcB/s640/upload2.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fh3heVg7q7k/WOWnutgAnZI/AAAAAAAABAA/jDSly1pHi4cbPUKJwrJUoymPAKcKlxJ6gCLcB/s1600/upload3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="308" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fh3heVg7q7k/WOWnutgAnZI/AAAAAAAABAA/jDSly1pHi4cbPUKJwrJUoymPAKcKlxJ6gCLcB/s640/upload3.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><div class="p1"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="p2"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Exactly *which* file types are allowed I’m not sure.&nbsp; For example, I think this could be used to upload OBJ or FBX models, maybe PSD files.&nbsp; I also don’t know if it would include individual .sut (brush), .cls (color set) files, since they don’t normally appear in the “Materials” palette, but clearly people are contributing them to the Clip Site somehow.&nbsp; Can Westerners upload to the site?&nbsp; I don’t know yet, I haven’t tried.&nbsp; You apparently earn “Clippy Points” by uploading things to the site, which you can then use to buy the non-free items (the non-free items show on the Clip Site when viewed in a web browsers, they are automatically filtered out in the English version of the Clip Studio Assets app).</span></div><div class="p2"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The last option on the Uploads Options page takes you to the “Help” documents.&nbsp; Specifically it takes you to this section (translated automatically with Google Translate):</span></div><div class="p2"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Hn3nxKTL6as/WOWn3p5IslI/AAAAAAAABAE/IdSr57-BfC4yrZknlbyDxkpQ6lJrYkdfQCLcB/s1600/Uploading.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Hn3nxKTL6as/WOWn3p5IslI/AAAAAAAABAE/IdSr57-BfC4yrZknlbyDxkpQ6lJrYkdfQCLcB/s640/Uploading.png" width="598" /></span></a></div><div class="p1"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="p2"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="p2"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I haven't actually tried uploading anything yet. &nbsp;I think it should work (unless they are IP blocking for some reason). &nbsp;But that second upload options explicitly says it's for NON Clip Studio files and that you can't upload collections in ZIP files either. &nbsp;If someone else wants to try it ahead of me and it works or doesn't work, please leave a comment to that effect below. &nbsp;If it doesn't work, then you can always use&nbsp;<a href="http://offworldgirl.blogspot.com/p/custom-clip-studio-paint-materials-packs.html">my work-around method</a>.</span></div><div class="p2"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><h3><span style="font-family: inherit;">MATERIAL COLLECTIONS</span></h3><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Collections, as the name implies, are a group of related Materials. &nbsp;So let's create one! &nbsp;First go to the the Materials section in the Launcher app. &nbsp;Then look at the bottom of the second column:</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lpC7dDgBZLc/WSodqKMKEkI/AAAAAAAABHU/w1brBVLFA4M38_fztN-88-oZ1mjBYFSogCLcB/s1600/CSL_Materials%2Bcopy.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="196" data-original-width="222" height="282" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lpC7dDgBZLc/WSodqKMKEkI/AAAAAAAABHU/w1brBVLFA4M38_fztN-88-oZ1mjBYFSogCLcB/s320/CSL_Materials%2Bcopy.png" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">1. Click on that "New Materials" button. &nbsp;It will pop up a box asking you to enter a name for your new collection:</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Vj4XzmXlUoY/WSoeGJ5EF6I/AAAAAAAABHY/YFY0DhX-rl4nTWeK1LEIIdMFibDgWn1CwCLcB/s1600/CreateNewCollection.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="102" data-original-width="506" height="80" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Vj4XzmXlUoY/WSoeGJ5EF6I/AAAAAAAABHY/YFY0DhX-rl4nTWeK1LEIIdMFibDgWn1CwCLcB/s400/CreateNewCollection.png" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Enter a name and click "OK" and *BOOM*</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">2. Your Collection is created in the list of collections. &nbsp;Click on it and it will replace the huge list of Materials:</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QVI9eG3afK4/WSoedMFOMWI/AAAAAAAABHc/oZb0I6H115MOYFDusdiuZb88VYBmn0fGwCLcB/s1600/Collection1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="757" data-original-width="1140" height="424" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QVI9eG3afK4/WSoedMFOMWI/AAAAAAAABHc/oZb0I6H115MOYFDusdiuZb88VYBmn0fGwCLcB/s640/Collection1.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><div class="p2"></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sweet! &nbsp;Except, of course, there's nothing IN this collection yet. &nbsp;It's just an empty box. &nbsp;I already know what items I'm going to put in it and have a nice "group shot" of them, so let's change that image thumbnail. &nbsp;Click on the "Management" button in the upper right of the Collection...</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">3. Material Collection Information</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qmhFCGl6qFM/WSoe6edrN5I/AAAAAAAABHg/4xB9OTvC0jQil4yUkKmPz07LBMRg43OPwCLcB/s1600/Collection2x.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="757" data-original-width="1140" height="424" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qmhFCGl6qFM/WSoe6edrN5I/AAAAAAAABHg/4xB9OTvC0jQil4yUkKmPz07LBMRg43OPwCLcB/s640/Collection2x.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><div class="p2" style="text-indent: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Just like any other kind of Material a Collection has the options to "Publish" or Read/Edit the information. &nbsp;Let's look at the info and edit it...</span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">4. Edit Collection Information</span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: center; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OFfRCqVkocM/WSofVFZeEcI/AAAAAAAABHk/yyMFRJmt1yc2_o1o8sUt5iYr5SZRaG4FgCLcB/s1600/Collection3xManage.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="757" data-original-width="1140" height="424" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OFfRCqVkocM/WSofVFZeEcI/AAAAAAAABHk/yyMFRJmt1yc2_o1o8sUt5iYr5SZRaG4FgCLcB/s640/Collection3xManage.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ok, first I had to click the "Edit" button in the lower right. &nbsp;As you can see I entered some descriptive text in the box, but lets also set a custom thumbnail image. &nbsp;Click the "Select Image" button above that "No image" picture. &nbsp;It will open your file manager to browse to the image. &nbsp;The image MUST be 240 x 240 pixels and in JPEG format. &nbsp;If it's not you'll see this warning:</span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: center; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9azvs31Ow2E/WSoga0v95_I/AAAAAAAABHw/0C85EJjp8X8Ad6QgRA0Gj0-tYJVuVO3HQCLcB/s1600/ManageThumbnailWarn.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="91" data-original-width="380" height="95" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9azvs31Ow2E/WSoga0v95_I/AAAAAAAABHw/0C85EJjp8X8Ad6QgRA0Gj0-tYJVuVO3HQCLcB/s400/ManageThumbnailWarn.png" width="400" /></span></a></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Now our Collection has a nifty thumbnail to help us know what is in it:</span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: center; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: center; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LZAEWkxYJhc/WSohGY44_mI/AAAAAAAABH4/78NcHvE_IbAYpVI0I-x3SqQr180kmi4wACLcB/s1600/Collection5.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="757" data-original-width="1140" height="424" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LZAEWkxYJhc/WSohGY44_mI/AAAAAAAABH4/78NcHvE_IbAYpVI0I-x3SqQr180kmi4wACLcB/s640/Collection5.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Well, actually NOTHING is in it! &nbsp;Let's remedy that...</span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">5. Adding Materials to a Collection</span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This is as simple as dragging and dropping the items out of the Materials Manager onto the Collection name in the collections list:</span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: center; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lhV4NmkewEg/WSoi2268dWI/AAAAAAAABIE/8KF3YqXCc8Q1PjPU7cTYrJraYD7tv7weQCLcB/s1600/Collections6DragNDrop.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="757" data-original-width="1140" height="424" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lhV4NmkewEg/WSoi2268dWI/AAAAAAAABIE/8KF3YqXCc8Q1PjPU7cTYrJraYD7tv7weQCLcB/s640/Collections6DragNDrop.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Go through your Materials Folders finding each item you want to add to the collection and drag and drop them onto the Collection name. &nbsp;Now when we click on the Collection it will show us everything that is included in it like this:</span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: center; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8pgIfqSkoaE/WSojOENa2oI/AAAAAAAABII/KhOLowQbh98bIfB1UZWoEMNqaN5iyPnrwCLcB/s1600/Collection7.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="757" data-original-width="1140" height="424" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8pgIfqSkoaE/WSojOENa2oI/AAAAAAAABII/KhOLowQbh98bIfB1UZWoEMNqaN5iyPnrwCLcB/s640/Collection7.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The "During Editing" means it is currently being edited and "You may add material." &nbsp;If you published it to the Assets site you can't add any more materials to it. &nbsp;The "Not Up" text for each item indicates that these Materials have not been uploaded to the Assets site either.</span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">6. Collection Management of Items</span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you click on the "Management" button for the Collection you get back to the Edit screen, where you'll now see it has the things we added listed:</span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: center; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0uNmkfm62M8/WSokGSvb-eI/AAAAAAAABIQ/zOavJOu80fYuL2RkbVm6lvOe8WXtCb1dQCLcB/s1600/Collection7xManage.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="757" data-original-width="1140" height="424" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0uNmkfm62M8/WSokGSvb-eI/AAAAAAAABIQ/zOavJOu80fYuL2RkbVm6lvOe8WXtCb1dQCLcB/s640/Collection7xManage.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It automatically creates "Category 1" and puts the things we dragged-n-dropped into it. &nbsp;You can change the order of them, or add more categories to organize the Collection contents.</span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">DELETING COLLECTIONS</span></b></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ok, maybe you only put together a collection in order to have all the materials used in it in one convenient place and now you don't need it anymore? &nbsp;Or you've updated a published Collection and want to delete the old one. &nbsp;You select it in the Collections list and click the "Delete" button immediately above the list (or you can right+click on the Collection name and "Delete" form the context menu). &nbsp;If the individual items in the Collection *only* exist in the Collection, deleting it will also delete the items. &nbsp;This is usually only a concern if you downloaded a Collection. &nbsp;If you created the Collection yourself form items already in your Materials obviously you'll have the individual copies of those items as well.</span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><h2><span style="font-family: inherit;">LAUNCHER INFO SCREENS</span></h2><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Launcher has a bunch of sections that are really just information. &nbsp;For example each app has its own section accessed by clicking the four-squares to the right of the app name:</span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: center; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-R6WVo190Lnk/WSonbDuz_rI/AAAAAAAABIk/NJ4BMpkG01Yi2pDmZxFV9W-nhQg5XC7aACLcB/s1600/CSL_AppUpdate.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="144" data-original-width="197" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-R6WVo190Lnk/WSonbDuz_rI/AAAAAAAABIk/NJ4BMpkG01Yi2pDmZxFV9W-nhQg5XC7aACLcB/s1600/CSL_AppUpdate.png" /></span></a></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you click the app name/icon on the left, however, that will OPEN that app. &nbsp;It's the icons on the right-hand side that will take you to the information screens.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">That (1) by PAINT means there is a one update (in this case it was because I had version 1.6.3 installed and 1.6.4 had just come out). &nbsp;If you are using the Unofficially Translated versions of these apps be very careful about not updating them unless you know for sure the patches work with the newer version or patches for the newer version are available.</span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ok, lets take a quick look at each of those App Info Screens (they're all pretty similar):</span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: center; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: center; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LTqVoSSflQU/WSooLqFdl5I/AAAAAAAABIs/pvVnxuhHbIAAdmiRndRHlNb6j4Of6J_wQCLcB/s1600/CSL_CSPinfo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="757" data-original-width="1140" height="424" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LTqVoSSflQU/WSooLqFdl5I/AAAAAAAABIs/pvVnxuhHbIAAdmiRndRHlNb6j4Of6J_wQCLcB/s640/CSL_CSPinfo.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: center; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: center; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d8u21jW8tYY/WSooY10UStI/AAAAAAAABIw/L-8qjD6aIzMrP-tUFV2XCUuLhWEayKzkwCEw/s1600/CSL_CSAinfo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="757" data-original-width="1140" height="424" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d8u21jW8tYY/WSooY10UStI/AAAAAAAABIw/L-8qjD6aIzMrP-tUFV2XCUuLhWEayKzkwCEw/s640/CSL_CSAinfo.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: center; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: center; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KOkuAWt4Aws/WSookKfjx9I/AAAAAAAABJA/7_uvTqcI5yEazgOjRwJaFoHrdUnW--dwACLcB/s1600/CSL_CSMinfo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="757" data-original-width="1140" height="424" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KOkuAWt4Aws/WSookKfjx9I/AAAAAAAABJA/7_uvTqcI5yEazgOjRwJaFoHrdUnW--dwACLcB/s640/CSL_CSMinfo.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">You'll notice some of the blocks are still in Japanese. &nbsp;These are the updated data pulled from the Celsys servers in Japan. &nbsp;They are usually about app updates, but sometimes are also about events or sales. &nbsp;You can safely just ignore them.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><h2><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Cloud</span></h2></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Cloud storage option is new in version 1.6.3 so it has its own Info Screen to help people understand how to use it. &nbsp;That last section takes you to the "<a href="https://www.clip-studio.com/clip_site/apps/clipstudio/cloud_guide" target="_blank">Cloud Usage Guide</a>" documentation. &nbsp;All that documentation is in Japanese of course, so you'll need to run that page through an automatic translation (I recommend visiting it with Google Chrome which will offer to translate it). &nbsp;I also have no idea if anyone outside of Japan can use the 10 gigs of cloud storage or not. &nbsp;I haven't tried using yet myself. &nbsp;I have, however, gone through both the (translated) Celsys <a href="https://www.celsys.co.jp/information/celsys_terms/" target="_blank">Terms of Use</a> and <a href="https://www.clip-studio.com/clip_site/information/service/cloud" target="_blank">Terms of Service for the Cloud</a> and saw nothing in it expressly prohibiting people from outside Japan from using it. &nbsp;It just says you need to register with a valid e-mail address and, if you're under the age of 13 do so with the consent of a parent or guardian.</span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: center; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KTxq-KxRdQE/WSopfZcKIbI/AAAAAAAABJI/MaKRt_SPp8cpOSbROyGPYXeLArrOL614ACLcB/s1600/CSL_Cloud.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="757" data-original-width="1140" height="424" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KTxq-KxRdQE/WSopfZcKIbI/AAAAAAAABJI/MaKRt_SPp8cpOSbROyGPYXeLArrOL614ACLcB/s640/CSL_Cloud.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><h3><span style="font-family: inherit;">CONFIGURATION</span></h3><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VVzs-HypqAA/WSyMcZLDASI/AAAAAAAABKM/l-8Px67Fvfsvi6KDNDs9zZUDSCg4K0T6ACLcB/s1600/CSL_CloudSettings.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="726" data-original-width="1140" height="406" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VVzs-HypqAA/WSyMcZLDASI/AAAAAAAABKM/l-8Px67Fvfsvi6KDNDs9zZUDSCg4K0T6ACLcB/s640/CSL_CloudSettings.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">This screen is pretty straight-forward (once it's translated). &nbsp;You can tell it to either use the cloud or not, and if you do whether you want to use it for Software Backup and/or Material Synchronization. &nbsp;One of the more important things mentioned in the "Cloud User Guide" is:</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br /><div style="border: 1px solid #ccc; margin: 10px; padding: 10px;"><div style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.6px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 10px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Storage period and capacity of cloud service are as follows.</span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 13.6px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-indent: -1px;"></span><br /></span><br /><ul><span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.6px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-indent: -1px;"><li><span style="font-size: 13.6px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Cloud data of CLIP STUDIO account which has not been synchronization for more than one year will be deleted.</span></li><li>Capacity is up to 10 GB.</li><li><span class="" style="font-size: 13.6px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Up to 30 software backup histories are allowed. Oldest backup will be</span><span style="font-size: 13.6px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;deleted automatically to add new one.</span></li></span></ul><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 13.6px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-indent: -1px;"></span></span><br /><div class="caution_box" style="background: rgb(242, 246, 250); border-radius: 5px; border: 1px dotted rgb(221, 221, 221); color: #333333; font-size: 13.6px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 5px 15px; position: relative; width: auto;"><h4 style="background-color: transparent; color: #0e59a3; font-size: 13.6px; line-height: normal; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">About capacity over time</span></h4><div style="background-color: transparent; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">If the capacity is exceeded, only the upload operation to the cloud is restricted (new data and update data are not uploaded).&nbsp;</span><span class="" style="background-color: transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The downloading behavior is not limited.</span></span></div></div></div></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><h3 style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">SOFTWARE RECOVERY</span></h3><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-c-UpDUWSTOo/WSyP47PCT8I/AAAAAAAABKc/6jG1m4ek0OMs0FL-d_C5U76N0Bsm9irYQCLcB/s1600/CSL_CloudRecoveryPopulated.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="651" data-original-width="1038" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-c-UpDUWSTOo/WSyP47PCT8I/AAAAAAAABKc/6jG1m4ek0OMs0FL-d_C5U76N0Bsm9irYQCLcB/s640/CSL_CloudRecoveryPopulated.png" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Cloud Software Recovery populated with backups (translation added to screencap)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This option will save back-ups of your software tools and settings so you can recover and restore them if necessary. &nbsp;As noted above it will only save up to 30 back-ups, and then when you add a new one it will delete the oldest restore point. &nbsp;This is obviously data pulled from their servers, which is why it appears in Japanese and can't be translated with the rest of the app. &nbsp;I've added translated text to the screencaps so you know what it says. &nbsp;When you first go to this section, though, there won't yet be any backups in the list, so it looks like this (translations added):</span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XqsHv7Zna9k/WSyQSXLXtVI/AAAAAAAABKg/VJjjmyexTSczt7JMlduHaOHn24bJpImogCLcB/s1600/CSL_CloudRecovery_Empty.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="182" data-original-width="926" height="124" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XqsHv7Zna9k/WSyQSXLXtVI/AAAAAAAABKg/VJjjmyexTSczt7JMlduHaOHn24bJpImogCLcB/s640/CSL_CloudRecovery_Empty.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Below the list of backups there are bunch of buttons. &nbsp;You can safely ignore them as they are mostly just legal notices.</span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QLztg6SM1tY/WSyQgrP9quI/AAAAAAAABKk/LgKXyCZbdTMcwwwFMJLQsqFO7dWzDASEgCLcB/s1600/CSL_CloudRecovery_buttons.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="46" data-original-width="928" height="30" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QLztg6SM1tY/WSyQgrP9quI/AAAAAAAABKk/LgKXyCZbdTMcwwwFMJLQsqFO7dWzDASEgCLcB/s640/CSL_CloudRecovery_buttons.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Terms of Service </b>- this button launches your web browser and takes you to the general&nbsp;<a href="https://www.clip-studio.com/clip_site/information/terms" style="font-weight: normal;" target="_blank">Celsys TOS</a> page.</span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.celsys.co.jp/information/privacy/" target="_blank">Privacy Policy</a> - pretty standard online privacy policy, specifically is opt-in for sharing data with third-parties.</span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.celsys.co.jp/information/legal/" target="_blank"><b>Copyright &amp; Trademark</b></a> - standard intellectual property notices related to the software and content.</span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.clip-studio.com/clip_site/information/asct/index" target="_blank"><b>Commercial Transactions</b></a> - opens your browser to a page about how to buy, sell, and return items - including "Gold" and "Clippy Points"&nbsp;under Japanese commercial transaction law.</span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://www.clip-studio.com/clip_site/information/clearance/index" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></a></div><div style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.clip-studio.com/clip_site/information/clearance/index" target="_blank"><b>Fund Settlement</b></a> - this regards their policies on charging or paying in the "Gold" currency used on the Assets site. &nbsp;However, in reading how to sign up for it, it doesn't appear to be available to people outside of Japan.</span></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Contact Us</b><span style="font-weight: normal;"> - this is <a href="https://www2.celsys.co.jp/support/service/service.html" style="font-style: normal;" target="_blank">a contact form</a> <i>specifically</i> just for issues related to the online services. &nbsp;It is not for software support.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><i>NOTE: I have personally contacted Celsys customer service before and while the language-barrier is problematic, they did make the effort to reply promptly and in english.</i></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><i><br /></i></span></span><br /><h2 id="passbooks"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;">GOLD and CLIPPY PASSBOOKS</span></h2><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OW-vqgucS30/WSyTV1Z5yvI/AAAAAAAABKw/Ig7heKc-mMgEFBfyh7opWUQCmqV-NjdaQCLcB/s1600/CSL_Passbooks.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="36" data-original-width="626" height="36" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OW-vqgucS30/WSyTV1Z5yvI/AAAAAAAABKw/Ig7heKc-mMgEFBfyh7opWUQCmqV-NjdaQCLcB/s640/CSL_Passbooks.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;">At the top of the Launcher app you'll notice the "G" and "CP" buttons to the right of the Cloud button. &nbsp;These stand for "Gold" and "Clippy Points" - the two different kinds of electronic currency used on the Japanese Clip Assets website. &nbsp;The numbers obviously tell you how much "money" you have available in your accounts. &nbsp;Clicking on each of those buttons launches your web browser and takes you to your Celsys Account "Passbooks."</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span><br /><h4><span style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;"><b>CLIPPY PASSBOOK</b></span></h4><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="392" data-original-width="753" height="332" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nZYA-RQjuLM/WSyVyP5XFLI/AAAAAAAABK8/yBFTp122uFc2NmLrI4ZWdX0a4SFDIiipQCLcB/s640/ClippyPassbook.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clippy Passbook Account Screen (auto-translated by Google Translate in Chrome)</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nZYA-RQjuLM/WSyVyP5XFLI/AAAAAAAABK8/yBFTp122uFc2NmLrI4ZWdX0a4SFDIiipQCLcB/s1600/ClippyPassbook.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;">You earn "Clippy Points" by doing things like rating materials you download or selling materials you've created. &nbsp;The downside is that you have to SPEND your "CP" before the end of the month or they will expire! &nbsp;The only way to not have them expire is to become a "Gold Member." &nbsp;As CP are generated by actions within the site and can only be spent within the site, it appears earning and spending CP is available to anyone with an account.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span><br /><h4><span style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;"><b>GOLD PASSBOOK</b></span></h4><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="446" data-original-width="749" height="380" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UC_Y-jpnB6w/WSyWgB1il0I/AAAAAAAABLE/MRZpxPz7Z3Ev67LzsSJ3DI5624A4ZDUygCLcB/s640/GoldPassbook.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gold Passbook Account Screen (auto-translated by Google Translate in Chrome)</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UC_Y-jpnB6w/WSyWgB1il0I/AAAAAAAABLE/MRZpxPz7Z3Ev67LzsSJ3DI5624A4ZDUygCLcB/s1600/GoldPassbook.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span><br /><div style="font-style: normal;"><div style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">You BUY "Gold" with your credit card. &nbsp;I can't think of any technical reason people outside of Japan wouldn't be able to buy it, they accept Visa, MasterCard, and American Express. &nbsp;As for the actual "Gold Membership" though, that looks like it might be more problematic since the sign-up form is only set up for people living in Japan, they require bank account information to transfer "royalties" for anything you sell on the site in "Gold" that you want to cash-out into real money, and they require you to sign and sign for an actual contract to that affect - which they snail-mail, presumably only to Japanese addresses, and require signature confirmation to accept the paperwork. &nbsp;And in Japan you "sign" for stuff with your personal stamp. &nbsp;I don't see how any of that would work for someone who doesn't live in Japan, but if YOU want to contact them and find out be my guest.&nbsp;</span></div><div style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><h2><span style="font-family: inherit;">OUTPUT and RELEASE SCREENS</span></h2><div style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div></div></div><div style="font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The lower section of the menu along the left-hand side is dedicated to various ways users (in Japan) can output their Work. &nbsp;These are just INFORMATION about the various output methods. &nbsp;You can pretty much ignore all of it. &nbsp;But for the curious, here's what those sections are about...</span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Post to Comico</span></b></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This is a ComiXology-like site, though I think it's more for aspiring talent to get their stuff in front of an audience. &nbsp;No idea if it's open to people outside of Japan or not. &nbsp;The comico website is at:</span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.comico.jp/guide/index.nhn">http://www.comico.jp/guide/index.nhn</a></span></div><div style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-weight: normal; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9MaBwdAaJ3o/WSo4pHz1jGI/AAAAAAAABJw/fqgSej8XPyE1sARjlE2xOQBXLJ90VAQfQCLcB/s1600/comico.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="506" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9MaBwdAaJ3o/WSo4pHz1jGI/AAAAAAAABJw/fqgSej8XPyE1sARjlE2xOQBXLJ90VAQfQCLcB/s640/comico.png" width="356" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">comico Android app</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Create Fanzine with pixev FACTORY BOOKS</b><span style="font-weight: normal;"> - This is a small-run printing company, but it only ships within Japan.</span></span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Make a Fanzine</b><span style="font-weight: normal;"> - links to tips on how to configure PAINT documents to various printer specs.</span></span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>EPUB output</b><span style="font-weight: normal;"> - is built into PAINT EX, I think other versions need the plug-in to do it?</span></span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Publish Comic for Amazon Kindle</b><span style="font-weight: normal;"> - just links to Amazons Direct Publishing website. &nbsp;In the Unofficial Translation Kit I have redirected this to the US version of that page.</span></span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>NOTE: </b>The people who translated it in the app chose to use "fanzine" but it actually says "doujinishi" which has a slightly different connotation, but suffice it to say it means any kind of indie, self-published book with illustrations.</span></i></div></div></div></div>OffWorld Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239467069925469355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780760006974194693.post-72203608079459643392017-05-29T16:53:00.001-07:002017-05-29T16:53:06.866-07:00Clip Studio Launcher (LEGACY Version)<span style="font-family: inherit;">This post is specifically about the Clip Studio Assets/Launcher "Legacy" app. &nbsp;It is the version of the Launcher used with the pre-1.5 versions of the Japanese Clip Studio Suite apps. &nbsp;There is no english-language version. &nbsp;Version 1.1.7 is the final release of the Legacy Launcher. &nbsp;You can't download and install the Launcher by itself, but you can get it by downloading and installing the Legacy version of ACTION, which also includes the last version of COORDINATE that is compatible with the legacy apps.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">For details on the current version of the Launcher see my other posts about the the <a href="http://offworldgirl.blogspot.com/2017/05/clip-studio-launcherassets-16x-japanese.html">Japanese 1.6.x Launcher </a>or the <a href="http://offworldgirl.blogspot.com/2017/04/the-clip-studio-16x-assets-app.html">English 1.6.x Launcher</a>. &nbsp;If you never installed any of the Clip Studio Suite apps prior to version 1.5 then this post isn't for you. &nbsp;If you DO have the older versions of the apps installed (and you can have them installed alongside the newer ones and other language installations) then let's dig in!</span><br /><div class="p2"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><i><b>NOTE:</b>&nbsp;The following screenshots are of the Japanese app with the&nbsp;<a href="http://offworldgirl.blogspot.com/p/clip-studio-unofficial-english.html">Unofficial English Translations</a>&nbsp;applied to the user interface. &nbsp;However, any content which is loaded from the Celsys servers is still shown in Japanese.</i><br /><i><br /></i></div><div class="p2"><h2><span style="font-family: inherit;">START SCREEN</span></h2><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tLKOgsgar04/WSyfxJJ1WRI/AAAAAAAABLU/FYi5mwxmAU4i8sn62BKB1M1gu_0KJ4ijgCEw/s1600/CSL117_Start.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="797" data-original-width="1140" height="446" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tLKOgsgar04/WSyfxJJ1WRI/AAAAAAAABLU/FYi5mwxmAU4i8sn62BKB1M1gu_0KJ4ijgCEw/s640/CSL117_Start.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clip Studio Legacy Launcher 1.1.7 "Start" Screen</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br /><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="p2">This older version has a much simpler Star Screen than the newer ones. &nbsp;As you can see it is still pulling data from the Celsys servers, at least for now.</div><div class="p1"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Whenever you are uploading/downloading anything from the Celsys Assets site the double-arrow icon in the toolbar will show how many transfer jobs are in process. &nbsp;The Legacy version is not compatible with the Celsys Cloud. &nbsp;Also note that you cannot direct it to store Materials in a different location than the default one, so there is no way to share one set of them between the Japanese and other language Legacy installations. &nbsp;Note that this is not the number of&nbsp;<i>files</i>&nbsp;being uploaded or downloaded, but the number of&nbsp;<i>connections</i>. If you want to see what's going on in detail, click the double-arrow icon and this&nbsp;<b>Communication Management&nbsp;</b>window will pop up, where you also have some control over those individual connections:</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xWgIXK5_5r4/WOWmCIFPqEI/AAAAAAAABAI/CS1j7Vxb9pEBoCT1ygrV2jGgFGUwq5zmgCPcB/s1600/CommunicationsManagement.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="629" data-original-width="960" height="417" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xWgIXK5_5r4/WOWmCIFPqEI/AAAAAAAABAI/CS1j7Vxb9pEBoCT1ygrV2jGgFGUwq5zmgCPcB/s640/CommunicationsManagement.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">When uploads/downloads are in progress you will see a progress bar for each active connection.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><h4></h4><h2><span style="font-family: inherit;">WORK SECTION</span></h2><span style="font-family: inherit;">There’s an entire sub-section called “Work List” in this Clip Studio app that lets you pick documents to open in the various apps in the suite:&nbsp;</span></div><div class="p1"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3w-PZudUGJg/WSyhdvi9oOI/AAAAAAAABLg/NkdZ3XHvS_YlV5NbCh-Fdb0Ixmg2TFb8QCLcB/s1600/CSL117Work.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="797" data-original-width="1140" height="446" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3w-PZudUGJg/WSyhdvi9oOI/AAAAAAAABLg/NkdZ3XHvS_YlV5NbCh-Fdb0Ixmg2TFb8QCLcB/s640/CSL117Work.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clip Studio Legacy Launcher 1.1.7 "Work" Section</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">There are some default "folders" for All Works, Work (including PAINT docs), and that last one that missed getting translated says "The Works" which shows documents excluding PAINT docs. &nbsp;You can organize your work any way you like, including creating new folders by either right+clicking in the middle column and selecting "New" or pressing the "New" button at the top of the middle column.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">You can click the "Delete" button to get rid of Folders you create, but not the default ones. &nbsp;You can also drag to reorder the Folders or drag and drop them into other Folders to create whatever kind of hierarchy you like.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Unlike the newer version of Launcher, the Work section neither backs things up to the Cloud nor does it have a right+click context menu with other actions for the items. &nbsp;The only thing you can do in the Legacy version is click the Work file to open it in its respective app in the suite.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><b><br /></b></i><i><b>NOTE:</b>&nbsp;If you select a Work item and intend to open it in PAINT be aware that it will open in the Japanese version of PAINT. &nbsp;Also be aware that the latest version of PAINT will likely be set as the default for opening .lip files when double-clicking them in your operating system's file manager unless you change the default opener for those file types. &nbsp;</i></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><br /></i><i>This can get confusing if you have multiple installations! &nbsp;For example, on my computer if have the Legacy Japanese Paint 1.3.2, Legacy English Paint 1.4.4, Japanese PAINT 1.6.4, and English PAINT 1.6.2 installed on my machine. &nbsp;It wanted to open all .lip/.clip files in the Japanese 1.6.4 because it was the latest version and the last one I installed/updated.</i></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><br /></i><i>You can always override this behavior by right+clicking on the file and telling it which specific version to use when opening the file. &nbsp;But simply double-clicking may open it in an unintended installation.</i></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><h2><span style="font-family: inherit;">MATERIAL SEARCH</span></h2><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">In the left-hand column there is an option to search for materials. &nbsp;This is the same as the "Assets" section in the non-Japanese versions of the Launcher app.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7uJwLw-phCU/WSyjYPjcbQI/AAAAAAAABLs/qM1u4TnLHck75J_XiEDhIUJGGqa8n8okQCLcB/s1600/CSL117_Search.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="797" data-original-width="1140" height="446" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7uJwLw-phCU/WSyjYPjcbQI/AAAAAAAABLs/qM1u4TnLHck75J_XiEDhIUJGGqa8n8okQCLcB/s640/CSL117_Search.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clip Studio Legacy Launcher 1.1.7 "Material Search" Screen</td></tr></tbody></table><div align="center" style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;liberation sans&quot; , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Translation:</b></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;liberation sans&quot; , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><br /></b></span></span><span style="font-family: &quot;liberation sans&quot; , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>In this version, services requiring login are not available.</b></span></span></div><div align="center" style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;liberation sans&quot; , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Sorry to trouble you but update it.</b></span></span></div><div align="center" style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div align="center" style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div align="center" style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;liberation sans&quot; , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>How to update to the latest version</b></span></span></div><div align="center" style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br /><div align="left" style="line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: &quot;liberation sans&quot; , sans-serif;">What that means is that you can no longer download assets from the "Clip Site" with the Launcher to the installed "Legacy" apps. If you really NEED an asset in the legacy apps you could download it with the newer Launcher, find the folder, and manually copy it to the legacy apps. That, of course, assumes it's compatible with the legacy apps (for example an older asset that has not been updated). If it's in the format for 1.5 or later, though, it most likely won't work even if you manually install it by copying it.</span><br /><span style="font-family: &quot;liberation sans&quot; , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: &quot;liberation sans&quot; , sans-serif;">Note that the "Plug-In List" link on the Start Screen takes you to the same message. &nbsp;Apparently the plugins now available on the Celsys Assets site are only compatible with the newer versions of the apps.</span></div><h2><span style="font-family: inherit;">MATERIALS SECTION</span></h2><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">In the Legacy version of Launcher you get to your installed Materials List with the first button under "Material" in the left-hand column:</span></div><div class="p2"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="p2"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bq_pUkFK7Y0/WSylOvYxwyI/AAAAAAAABL4/60xoY_LtLo0eSRPJaHT595yjPuzqKwovACLcB/s1600/CSL117Materials.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="797" data-original-width="1140" height="446" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bq_pUkFK7Y0/WSylOvYxwyI/AAAAAAAABL4/60xoY_LtLo0eSRPJaHT595yjPuzqKwovACLcB/s640/CSL117Materials.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clip Studio Legacy Launcher 1.1.7 "Material List" section</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>You may notice that the actual Materials are the same as my screencap of the 1.6.x version, including the "Grunk's World" Collection I created with the newer Launcher.<br /><br />This is because when you install the 1.6.x versions it will automatically connect your new installation to the Materials location of the existing Legacy apps. &nbsp;So the Japanese 1.6.x are sharing the same Materials as the Japanese Legacy apps, and the English 1.6.x apps are sharing Materials with the English Legacy apps.<br /><br />The 1.6.x Launcher allows you to point to a different Materials location. &nbsp;What I did was point my English 1.6.x Launcher to the same location as the 1.6.x Japanese Materials, which is also the location of the Japanese Legacy app's Materials. &nbsp;That also redirected my English Legacy apps to use that location. &nbsp;So now I have all my installations using the same set of Materials!</div><div class="p2"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Which is why you have to be careful about using the options under the Gear drop-down menu:</span></div><div class="p2"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VvW6p2QPeEU/WSypoVawKJI/AAAAAAAABME/Ed0sl01dxJYuoXeq-xf8TKfUBeMCWQy2wCLcB/s1600/CSL117_GearMenu.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="348" data-original-width="650" height="340" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VvW6p2QPeEU/WSypoVawKJI/AAAAAAAABME/Ed0sl01dxJYuoXeq-xf8TKfUBeMCWQy2wCLcB/s640/CSL117_GearMenu.png" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="p2"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">I'd recommend that you only Rebuild or Initialize things from the 1.6.x Launcher or you're just begging to corrupt your database. &nbsp; As it is you'll probably still have to at least go through some "Organize Materials" operations when you open apps in different language installations or between "legacy" and current. &nbsp;Especially if you're sharing materials across all of them like I am.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>While "Material Information" details, etc., are also still available in the Legacy Launcher, I strongly recommend that you edit that information with the <i>current </i>Launcher, especially if you plan to upload and share the Materials on the Assets site. &nbsp;See my other post on Launcher 1.6.x (Japanese Version), "<a href="http://offworldgirl.blogspot.com/2017/05/clip-studio-launcherassets-16x-japanese.html#material_info">Material Information</a>" section.<br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The "Help" Menu under the question mark is less-extensive in the Legacy Launcher than the current version:</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2GO0XCtzKFo/WSyqrHgfe6I/AAAAAAAABMQ/cpU4djOUNtQxeW0PAXPTflIfUiaUT8P3gCLcB/s1600/CSL117_HelpMenu.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="285" data-original-width="596" height="306" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2GO0XCtzKFo/WSyqrHgfe6I/AAAAAAAABMQ/cpU4djOUNtQxeW0PAXPTflIfUiaUT8P3gCLcB/s640/CSL117_HelpMenu.png" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><br /></div><div class="p2" style="text-indent: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><h2><span style="font-family: inherit;">LAUNCHER INFO SCREENS</span></h2><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Launcher has a bunch of sections that are really just information. &nbsp;Be aware, however, that in the Legacy Launcher clicking on the right-hand side of the app names in the left-hand column will not take you to the information screens. &nbsp;These are buttons that launch the apps:</span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QI7y6CisyY0/WSyxI0drvoI/AAAAAAAABMg/SqjRDOg4Fi41kfbYgsFtzY9FMt7hNZURACLcB/s1600/CSL117_Launchers.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="185" data-original-width="203" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QI7y6CisyY0/WSyxI0drvoI/AAAAAAAABMg/SqjRDOg4Fi41kfbYgsFtzY9FMt7hNZURACLcB/s1600/CSL117_Launchers.png" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In the Legacy Launcher the only way to get to the App Info Screens is from the Start Screen:</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jm1uDt9FwZc/WSyyj0gKPdI/AAAAAAAABMs/Dg2zdVe2BfgJ1_Mwol8iDNipSG4JWYbrwCLcB/s1600/CSL117_AppInfo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="797" data-original-width="1140" height="446" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jm1uDt9FwZc/WSyyj0gKPdI/AAAAAAAABMs/Dg2zdVe2BfgJ1_Mwol8iDNipSG4JWYbrwCLcB/s640/CSL117_AppInfo.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blocks that take you to App Info Screens (outlined in red)</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ok, lets take a quick look at one of those App Info Screens (they're all pretty similar):</span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aHfrf2lz0iE/WSyy0Kpax3I/AAAAAAAABMw/Xw9a2YKZs1wFE3B3ZDzaiYD24wDNdNDlACLcB/s1600/CSL117_CSPBuy.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="797" data-original-width="1140" height="446" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aHfrf2lz0iE/WSyy0Kpax3I/AAAAAAAABMw/Xw9a2YKZs1wFE3B3ZDzaiYD24wDNdNDlACLcB/s640/CSL117_CSPBuy.png" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">You'll notice some of the blocks are still in Japanese. &nbsp;These are the updated data pulled from the Celsys servers in Japan. &nbsp;They are usually about app updates, but sometimes are also about events or sales. &nbsp;You can safely just ignore them.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>That's pretty much it for the Legacy Launcher. &nbsp;In fact there's really not much reason to bother opening it at all since you can launch the individual apps from your operating system, it can no longer search, download, or upload Materials from the Assets site, and it's safer to manage your installed Materials with the newer Launcher.</div></div></div>OffWorld Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239467069925469355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780760006974194693.post-66367959997049353172017-04-05T19:39:00.000-07:002017-05-29T16:27:10.444-07:00The Clip Studio 1.6.x Assets App (English Version)<div class="p1">The release of the English language 1.6.2 version of Clip Studio Paint FINALLY added a built-in method for those of us outside of Japan to download some of those over 10,000 assets they have on the Japanese “Clip Site.”&nbsp; It also meant some changes to the user interface, chief of which is the entirely separate "Clip Studio" asset download app, which is what I’ll go over in this post.<br /><i><br /><b>NOTE:</b> The actual name of this app is simply "Clip Studio" but I usually refer to it as the "Launcher" or CSL (Clip Studio Launcher) because in the Japanese version it is a front-end for running the entire suite. &nbsp;Also because CSL won't cause any confusion with another app in the suite, CSA (Clip Studio Action).</i></div><div class="p2"><br /></div><h2><b>Getting Started</b></h2><div class="p2">This is new for us Westerners, but will look familiar to anyone who has been using the unofficial language hack versions of the suite.&nbsp; Unfortunately we’re getting a feature-limited version of it.&nbsp; Here’s what you see when you fire it up:</div><div class="p1"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YM55Jbe-Bq8/WOWlgN_44-I/AAAAAAAAA-8/V__XcOBp0Z4Jq99MUUz3ux51sTA_9HeWwCLcB/s1600/CS_EN_START.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="496" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YM55Jbe-Bq8/WOWlgN_44-I/AAAAAAAAA-8/V__XcOBp0Z4Jq99MUUz3ux51sTA_9HeWwCLcB/s640/CS_EN_START.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clip Studio Launcher 1.6.3 Start Screen</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="p2"><br /><a name='more'></a><br /></div><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p1">It loads the <a href="https://assets.clip-studio.com/ja-jp" target="_blank">Clip Studio Assets</a> site inside of it.&nbsp; One thing you’ll probably notice right away is that everything is FREE!&nbsp; Actually that’s because it will ONLY show the materials that are free, because their payment system still isn’t really set up for users outside of Japan.&nbsp; But don’t worry there are a LOT of free materials available.&nbsp; And if you click on any of them there is even an built-in button to translate the item description from Japanese, but it’s also an obvious reminder that first and foremost this is really a Japanese app.<br /><br /></div><h2><b>Install, Organize, and Reset Materials Have Moved!</b></h2><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p1">Prior to version 1.6.2 you would Install, Organize, or Reset materials from within Clip Studio Paint’s main menu:</div><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f5FyVYMacmk/WOWlxe7DckI/AAAAAAAAA_A/g6OSKZjpXlYs4WDDjWFSd-P155eUOPpPwCLcB/s1600/OLD_Organize_Menu.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f5FyVYMacmk/WOWlxe7DckI/AAAAAAAAA_A/g6OSKZjpXlYs4WDDjWFSd-P155eUOPpPwCLcB/s320/OLD_Organize_Menu.jpeg" width="222" /></a></div><div class="p1"><br /></div><div class="p1">Those functions are now all moved to the Clip Studio Assets app under the “Gear” icon in the top bar:</div><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SYuuKOdPE5U/WOWl5VN75eI/AAAAAAAAA_E/d5PU8NuquNgh18_dzjAs8cg0jkI60MkuQCLcB/s1600/CS_EN_Dropmenu.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SYuuKOdPE5U/WOWl5VN75eI/AAAAAAAAA_E/d5PU8NuquNgh18_dzjAs8cg0jkI60MkuQCLcB/s1600/CS_EN_Dropmenu.png" /></a></div><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p1">Install is front and center, and the old Organize and Reset are now under the “Maintenance Menu” fly-out.&nbsp; But you’ll notice some new things on that menu too:</div><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p1"><b>Location of Materials</b> - the default location is in your Documents folder, but now you can point it somewhere else if you want, for example a secondary drive (note: as far as I know network/cloud drives don’t work)</div><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p1"><b>Reset Materials Installed from Cloud</b> - when you install 1.6.2 it will go grab updated versions of a ton of the default materials you used to have to install from a gigantic zip file. I think it also includes any additional materials you download from the Clip Site. Reset will re-download them ALL (be sure you want to do that, it’s like 1400 something files!)</div><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p1"><b>Sync All Materials Installed from Cloud</b> - I think what this does is just re-download any materials you downloaded before that are missing (because you accidentally deleted them from your Materials palette, maybe).</div><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p1">In the top bar of the Clip Studio Assets app there is a button with two arrows going this way and that.&nbsp; If you are downloading/syncing from the Clip Site it will show you the number of communications going on.&nbsp; You can click the button, and it will show you the details in the Communications Management dialog:</div><div class="p2"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xWgIXK5_5r4/WOWmCIFPqEI/AAAAAAAAA_I/lvcBwkhhvZ8o7UH_PW1pryaOCGe_zH9BQCLcB/s1600/CommunicationsManagement.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="261" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xWgIXK5_5r4/WOWmCIFPqEI/AAAAAAAAA_I/lvcBwkhhvZ8o7UH_PW1pryaOCGe_zH9BQCLcB/s400/CommunicationsManagement.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clip Studio Launcher Communication Management</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="p1"><br /></div><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p2"><br /></div><h2><b>Downloading Assets with the Clip Studio App</b></h2><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p1">Since the Clip Site is actually in Japanese they were nice enough to integrate a Microsoft Translate “View Translation” button on each of the item descriptions:</div><div class="p2"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Cho2_xJGdNA/WOWmL_qrSmI/AAAAAAAAA_M/u_9hx-IJzQ4dZ2dNdvqQtjvQD9TEnHpbwCLcB/s1600/ItemView.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="496" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Cho2_xJGdNA/WOWmL_qrSmI/AAAAAAAAA_M/u_9hx-IJzQ4dZ2dNdvqQtjvQD9TEnHpbwCLcB/s640/ItemView.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Assets Item View in Launcher 1.6.3</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p1">As you can see, though, the translation will only work with actual text.&nbsp; Any text that is part of an image cannot be translated.&nbsp; So you go ahead and click that “Download” button and…it tells you to log in first!&nbsp; So you click the “Log In” button at the top and it opens this dialog:</div><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-P-6Kq_Ne8uQ/WOWmQbunGkI/AAAAAAAAA_Q/850wg7sQ1sMl1G2JqBCve3OcF2T6X9lEwCLcB/s1600/Login.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="131" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-P-6Kq_Ne8uQ/WOWmQbunGkI/AAAAAAAAA_Q/850wg7sQ1sMl1G2JqBCve3OcF2T6X9lEwCLcB/s400/Login.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p1">You’re going to need to press <b>“Register as New Member…</b>” which will open your web browser and take you to this page:</div><div class="p2"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Iac9CfWKiqA/WOWmV-B-81I/AAAAAAAAA_U/UDAmazy5G2wVvShEBZbKVASQyMzIrtZBQCLcB/s1600/SignUp.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="554" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Iac9CfWKiqA/WOWmV-B-81I/AAAAAAAAA_U/UDAmazy5G2wVvShEBZbKVASQyMzIrtZBQCLcB/s640/SignUp.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Registration Page opens in web browser.</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p1">Sign up, click the verification e-mail they send you, and then you’ll get to your Account to set up your profile.&nbsp; But this is all happening in your web browser, NOT the Clip Studio Assets app.&nbsp; So let’s go back to it.&nbsp; If you need to click the “Log In” button again to get the Login Dialog, enter your email and password.&nbsp; NOW you can go download that freebie!</div><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p1">Materials you download from the Clip Site will appear in your Materials Palette under “Downloads” and not under the category type of the material.&nbsp; However, once you have them you can manually drag-and-drop the downloaded materials to the desired Materials folder to organize things.</div><div class="p1"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Nm1jRrYYXgg/WOWmc2utbTI/AAAAAAAAA_Y/OKoUU9qWFfQL3VePbUUyDP5Ms5Txpj_LQCLcB/s1600/DownloadedMaterials.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="604" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Nm1jRrYYXgg/WOWmc2utbTI/AAAAAAAAA_Y/OKoUU9qWFfQL3VePbUUyDP5Ms5Txpj_LQCLcB/s640/DownloadedMaterials.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Downloaded Materials List in Clip Studio PAINT 1.6.3</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p1">Regardless of where you put the downloaded Material, when you mouse over it you will see a little icon appear in the upper right-hand corner.&nbsp; If you click that it will open the Clip Studio Assets app and take you to the Item detail page on the Clip Site.&nbsp; This is useful if you downloaded a “Limited License” material and want to check the terms of use before including it in a project.</div><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p1">But what do you do if you downloaded something and accidentally deleted it?&nbsp; You go re-download it!&nbsp; Once you’re logged into the Clip Studio Assets app look for your profile drop-down in the upper-right of the Clip Site window, click it and select “MyDownloads” from the drop-down menu:</div><div class="p2"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zzv_lAozz78/WOWmxdLcvWI/AAAAAAAAA_c/NzPnoGRetN0PngQ5Ncw_SiSdZSWdnP5nwCLcB/s1600/MyDownloadsDropMenu.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="279" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zzv_lAozz78/WOWmxdLcvWI/AAAAAAAAA_c/NzPnoGRetN0PngQ5Ncw_SiSdZSWdnP5nwCLcB/s320/MyDownloadsDropMenu.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clip Studio Launcher Assets drop-down menu</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p1">That takes you to a page showing, unsurprisingly, everything you’ve downloaded!&nbsp; You can either click on the thumbnail to go look at the item details again (there will be a big, red “Re-Download” button waiting for you there) or…just click the little download icon in the bottom right-hand corner of the item thumbnail.</div><div class="p2"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_qagPRRN-6A/WOWm4oC_F2I/AAAAAAAAA_g/5NbZbu1AaPIa455cvPdSkE0_cvfepGg9ACLcB/s1600/MyDownloads.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="531" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_qagPRRN-6A/WOWm4oC_F2I/AAAAAAAAA_g/5NbZbu1AaPIa455cvPdSkE0_cvfepGg9ACLcB/s640/MyDownloads.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"My Downloads" in Launcher 1.6.3 Assets</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p1">If you are looking at items on the Clip Site in your web browser and click the “Download” (or “Re-Download”) button it will want to open the Clip Studio app.&nbsp; If you still have it open and are logged into it, no problem - the activity just jumps from your browser to the app.&nbsp; <i>(Note: if you have the Japanese versions installed as well, like I do, the Clip Site in the browser will try to open the Japanese version of the Clip Studio app *unless* you already had the English version open)</i>.</div><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p1">Ok, so you downloaded stuff.&nbsp; Where does it actually GO?!?&nbsp; Assets downloaded from the Clip Site are treated as local (user-level) registered materials rather than “installed materials.”&nbsp; They’ll be located somewhere in one of the <i>numbered</i> sub-folders (NOT "Install" or "Install2") inside of:<br /><b><br />Documents/CELSYS_EN/CLIPStudioCommon/Material/</b> <br /><br />But if you want to know specifically where you’ll have to look through the sub-folders and their thumbnails.&nbsp; Not that you can edit them, registered materials are obfuscated and can’t be disassembled.&nbsp; But you could, for example, copy the entire folder with the UUID into another Clip Studio installation (it is functionally just like <a href="http://offworldgirl.blogspot.com/p/custom-clip-studio-paint-materials-packs.html">my work-around for installing custom materials packs</a>).&nbsp; However, I’m not quite sure what happens if you sync or reset to the cloud.</div><div class="p1"><br /></div><h2></h2><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p2"><br /></div><style type="text/css">p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px} </style> <br /><div class="p2"><br /></div>OffWorld Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239467069925469355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780760006974194693.post-79718014062678955582016-08-18T14:24:00.000-07:002016-08-18T14:24:09.629-07:00CLIP Studio Paint Stuff!Yup! &nbsp;STUFF! &nbsp;You like stuff right?<br /><br />Just added a very LONG page about how to create custom materials in Clip Studio Paint. &nbsp;Ho-hum right? &nbsp;Except I figured out how you can collect them into "packs" that allow you to back them up (including how you organized them in your Materials Palette) and - this is the biggie - SHARE them with other users!<br /><br />Clip Studio Paint is just one app in an entire suite of creativity apps, and for users in Japan there is a robust marketplace of additional materials available for free, purchase, or licensing - and users can share or sell their own, original materials too. &nbsp;Sadly, so far, the rest of us CSP is the only part of the suite we get and there is no native materials marketplace for anyone outside of Japan. &nbsp;Neither the original software publisher, Celsys, nor their North American distributor Smith Micro, seem particularly interested in establishing such a marketplace for us either.<br /><br />CSP has options in it to easily export your custom brushes or color sets, but anything that is "registered" as a material in the Materials Palette was not something you could export...until NOW!<br /><br />I spent about a week trying different things and trying to figure out what the Materials Installer Utility actually does. &nbsp;I'm about 99% certain those of us outside of Japan now have a safe, manual method for building, distributing, sharing, installing, and uninstalling custom Materials Packs.<br /><br />Here are the full details:&nbsp;<a href="http://offworldgirl.blogspot.com/p/custom-clip-studio-paint-materials-packs.html">http://offworldgirl.blogspot.com/p/custom-clip-studio-paint-materials-packs.html</a><br /><br />As part of this I also put together some experimental Materials Packs for testing as as a proof of concept. &nbsp;Among them is a pack with 3D materials in it - notably my 3D Character Model project "Caveman Grunk" - but the pack also includes a 3D Background model, 3D Object model of his club, and 2D Background Illustration. &nbsp;It's mostly to demonstrate how you can bundle a whole bunch of related materials together and distribute them.<br /><br />Also, since I originally posted the 6-part article on my experiments trying to make and import models to Clip Studio Paint I've had numerous people ask if they could have the original Grunk model or Coordinate file so they could see how the hell I put it all together. &nbsp;Well, somewhat reluctantly, I decided to finally release <a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8pi7ALBcptXRHdjdm1nd0NRWHM" target="_blank">all the source materials</a> that went into making him. &nbsp;As long as I was at it I included the source materials for his 3D Club, 3D House, and the 2D background in the hope that will be enough to help other people see how the things in the Caveman Grunk Pack were assembled.OffWorld Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239467069925469355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780760006974194693.post-19843452124196073042016-01-19T16:59:00.000-08:002016-01-19T17:17:14.841-08:00Can Anyone Edit This?!?Do you know how to edit binary files in a Hex Editor?<br /><br />If you came to this blog looking for the "unofficial" English translations of the Clip Studio apps you may be disappointed by the fact there are no translations for the current versions of anything in the suite - only outdated versions. &nbsp;That's because all I did was adapt someone else's work translating the Windows versions to the Mac versions, plus a tiny bit of my own work editing the Mac-only interface files.<br /><br />Which means I have no clue HOW the person who originally translated the Windows apps did so. &nbsp;I suspect they did it the "hard way" - by which I mean they manually edited the interface language binary files in a Hex Editor of some sort. &nbsp;Something that I do not know how to do and for whatever reason the original translator has never (to my knowledge) released translations for later versions.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f8l62zX7R10/U6eVuQ0X5DI/AAAAAAAAATo/hE63R6f2eNI/s1600/CSM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="170" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f8l62zX7R10/U6eVuQ0X5DI/AAAAAAAAATo/hE63R6f2eNI/s320/CSM.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />"Clip Studio Modeler" is the program that probably has the most interest because the newer versions of the program added 3D Character creation tools. &nbsp;Which is where YOU may come in IF you actually know how to manually edit binaries in a Hex Editor. &nbsp;Here are the files that need editing:<br /><br /><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8pi7ALBcptXd2Z6NzRaakQ3NzQ/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Download the Clip Studio Modeler 1.0.2 Language Binaries</a><br /><br />Though I have an auto-translation of the User Guide for the newer Clip Studio Modeler that added the Character tools I haven't been able to get very far with the program interface still being in Japanese, which is not a language I know.<br /><br />If I can connect with someone who has the skills and desire to edit these language files there will be a pathway to creating translations for the CURRENT versions of the Clip Studio apps. &nbsp;I hope. &nbsp;I'm just *guessing* that the original translations were done by altering those files with a Hex Editor. &nbsp;The person who did the existing translated files never posted about how, exactly, they did it.OffWorld Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239467069925469355noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780760006974194693.post-64341378330110120142015-11-10T15:07:00.001-08:002015-11-11T13:38:33.821-08:00home.comcast.net site is gone<i><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">offworldgirl.home.comcast.net</span></b></i> and <i><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">home.comcast.net/~offworldgirl</span></b></i> are now <b>DEAD</b>.<br /><br />This site was originally set up for the RSS blog feed into the static website hosted with Comcast's "Personal Web Pages." &nbsp;As of 1 November 2015, however, Comcast has DELETED all the personal web pages sites and discontinued that website hosting service.<br /><br />So I am <i>gradually</i> migrating the content worth keeping over to this blog site (and hopefully Google won't suddenly decide to shut down Blogger and force me to move it all somewhere again).<br /><br />As for what is "worth keeping?" &nbsp;Well, over the years I've received quite a few e-mails related to the Star Trek and Star Wars costume and prop content, as well as my in-universe Star Trek history articles about the Constellation Class starships and Section 31 (but those are going to take a while to bring over here). &nbsp;Files that used to be hosted at the Comcast site are being moved to Google Drive.<br /><br />Stay tuned...<br /><br /><br />OffWorld Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239467069925469355noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780760006974194693.post-17099090267650403782015-11-10T14:50:00.003-08:002015-11-10T14:50:24.773-08:00Star Wars Cosplay: Jedi Costume<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ShR1-duY45I/VkJel4CYJvI/AAAAAAAAAkI/sYq5MzxrfJY/s1600/jedi.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ShR1-duY45I/VkJel4CYJvI/AAAAAAAAAkI/sYq5MzxrfJY/s320/jedi.png" width="240" /></a></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3yzgs1j6S6o/VkJeqzrtfxI/AAAAAAAAAkU/4-YThlPmFtw/s1600/Ensemble.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3yzgs1j6S6o/VkJeqzrtfxI/AAAAAAAAAkU/4-YThlPmFtw/s320/Ensemble.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">This drawing above was my original concept drawing for my Jedi costume. I had originally planned to do something funky with the tabards where they'd be one piece instead of two (as you can see below the obi/belt line). I wanted to put an accent like some tapestry embroidery or something in that panel below the belt. Then I wanted to mirror the "arrow" of the tabards with a point upward in the top of the belt, and use a large metal button in place of a buckle (since they actually buckle in the back). However, since I started working on the costume less than two weeks before I was planning to wear it I threw my concept notions out the window and just tried to do something simpler and more standard, as you can see from the photo on the right of what I actually ended up making.</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"><b>Inner Tunic</b></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">Since the Inner Tunic is pretty well hidden under the Outer Tunic anyway, I figured I just needed a earth-tone top that suggested a "wrap" or "cross-over" of fabric. I found a Byers California brown stretch top that fit the bill perfectly for (if I recall correctly) something like $2 at Goodwill.</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fmz2SnimLG0/VkJfB6poq6I/AAAAAAAAAkk/9ZgwnhpzYJI/s1600/Inner_Tunic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fmz2SnimLG0/VkJfB6poq6I/AAAAAAAAAkk/9ZgwnhpzYJI/s320/Inner_Tunic.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"><b>Outer Tunic</b></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">The Outer Tunic is made from an old bed sheet, folded in half. I laid it down on the living room floor and made an "angel" shape large enough to make the wrap tunic. I screwed up the sewing on the collar a bit, though, so there's a bit too much material there, but I wasn't going to attempt to fix it or I felt I'd probably just make it worse.</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KTlvdfpUHec/VkJfLNWHu-I/AAAAAAAAAks/CZAY_MkSLDk/s1600/Outer_Tunic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KTlvdfpUHec/VkJfLNWHu-I/AAAAAAAAAks/CZAY_MkSLDk/s320/Outer_Tunic.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"><b>Obi/Tabards</b></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">My Tabards and Obi are actually sewn to one another. I did that partly to keep things from shifting too much in the back when wearing the costume, but also because it makes it easer to dress in the costume without help. The tabards stop at the obi in the back, which is where they are sewn at an angle going up to the shoulders. the front of the tabards are loose. Obviously if you want the tabards to extend beyond the Obi in the back (like Qui Gon's did) you'll need to decide if you're going to attach them to the Obi in the back or if you're just going to have three separate pieces and let the Obi actually hold the Tabards in place. Some people also like to add buttons or velcro at the shoulders of the tunic and to the underside of the Tabards to keep them from slipping off the shoulders. I didn't need to do that because there was enough friction between the Tabard and Tunic material to keep them in place. The obi attaches to itself in the back with velcro. Like the Outer Tunic this piece was also made from an old bed sheet. Below is a photo of the Obi/Tabards I made and a diagram (click for larger) of how that was assembled.</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XqH1m4zHz9Y/VkJfUI4UVWI/AAAAAAAAAk0/MWCU8KPAvfY/s1600/Obi_Tabards.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XqH1m4zHz9Y/VkJfUI4UVWI/AAAAAAAAAk0/MWCU8KPAvfY/s320/Obi_Tabards.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KXAvM0rt9Mw/VkJfcCojqaI/AAAAAAAAAk8/kYgBnlvqY2o/s1600/tabard_obi_diagram.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KXAvM0rt9Mw/VkJfcCojqaI/AAAAAAAAAk8/kYgBnlvqY2o/s320/tabard_obi_diagram.gif" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"><b>Pants</b></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">I didn't make the pants. I found these at Goodwill for $4 and they were perfect for the costume.</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZilE2zK_JKQ/VkJfkYs9eDI/AAAAAAAAAlE/m2jddjqirzk/s1600/Pants.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZilE2zK_JKQ/VkJfkYs9eDI/AAAAAAAAAlE/m2jddjqirzk/s320/Pants.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p3"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"><b>Robe</b></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">My hooded Jedi Robe is made from blanket fleece. I'd read that the robes in the movies were made from blanket wool, which is expensive and scratchy so I wanted to make the robe out of something more comfortable. I got the blanket fleece on sale for about $2 yard. I bought 10 yards worth (an entire bolt - except mine was in four large pieces). These robes are frickin' HUGE and the hood is gigantic, the weight of which constantly wants to pull the robe off your shoulders. At the convention I had to ditch the robe during the room parties, partly because all that fabric swimming around me knocks things over and people step on it, but it was also VERY VERY warm.</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><i>(sorry I forgot to snap a pic)</i></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"><b>Boots</b></span></div><br /><div class="p1"><span class="s1">I had a terrible time trying to find a pair of boots with less than 2 weeks to the convention. Frankly, had I not found any I'd have put the entire costume on hold until I did find a pair. I thought, since I was buying at the end of the winter season I'd find plenty on clearance. NO SUCH LUCK! I took time out from sewing to make three trips to various malls specifically in search of a pair of tall, brown, leather boots with flat (or low) heels and enough space to tuck the pants in around the top. On my third and final shopping trip, about to give up, I decided to walk out through Macy's. I normally would never have even considered Macy's since I simply can't afford to shop there. But literally on my way out I happened to walk by a clearance rack of nothing but boots at 75% off! Most were not my size, most were high-heel fashion boots - but tucked in behind some others was one pair with a low heel, the right color, with a neat buckle accent, and much to my surprise in my shoe size (a size I don't always see on the rack much less a clearance rack). I snapped them up for only $79 (retail price: $189). In case you're wondering they are Jessica Simpson "Brunella" boots. They were VERY comfortable for walking around all day and night at the convention, and I got several positive compliments on them.</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EHj4Y_11iaw/VkJf73NVVAI/AAAAAAAAAlM/GoWV8IJEhOY/s1600/Jedi_Boots.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EHj4Y_11iaw/VkJf73NVVAI/AAAAAAAAAlM/GoWV8IJEhOY/s320/Jedi_Boots.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span><span class="s1">More:</span><br /><span class="s1"><a href="http://offworldgirl.blogspot.com/2015/11/star-wars-cosplay-jedi-utility-belt.html">Utility Belt</a></span><br /><span class="s1"><a href="http://offworldgirl.blogspot.com/2015/11/star-wars-cosplay-lightsaber-prop.html">Lightsaber Prop</a></span><br /><span class="s1"><a href="http://offworldgirl.blogspot.com/2015/11/star-wars-cosplay-jedi-pouches.html">Jedi Pouches</a></span></div>OffWorld Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239467069925469355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780760006974194693.post-48337506752065945592015-11-10T14:50:00.002-08:002015-11-10T14:50:22.649-08:00Star Wars Cosplay: Jedi Utility Belt<div class="p1"><span class="s1">I don't have any idea how to do leatherwork, and since I was starting on my Jedi costume less than 2 weeks before the convention I wasn't keen to try learning it. So I made my Jedi Utility Belt out of heavy, upholstery vinyl, which actually looks better in person than in these photos (enough so that more than one person asked me, first of all where I got my belt and secondly were surprised it was vinyl, and not leather). Both the wide belt and the narrow belt have card stock inside to stiffen them up so they are firm like leather would be. The card stock strip was simply strung through the vinyl tube, it isn't sewn in. I did that so I could replace the card stock as it wears out. The front buckle on the narrow belt is just for show, and the vertical loops either side of it are actually attached to the wide belt behind with upholstery thread (to keep the front from drooping).</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">Note: in the photo below the pouches hanging on the side are actually for a Russian field gun cleaning kit. I have yet to make my Jedi pouches, so the cleaning kit pouches (which are attached to each other) were borrowed just so I had something semi-appropriate hanging there. They will be replaced with a "Tall" pouch, a "small" pouch on the other side, and a "wide" pouch in the back.</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-F5ggEamoSOU/VkJgdWTR1pI/AAAAAAAAAlU/AgvZd-WvdAM/s1600/Jedi_Belt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="159" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-F5ggEamoSOU/VkJgdWTR1pI/AAAAAAAAAlU/AgvZd-WvdAM/s320/Jedi_Belt.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">Below you can see how I did the buckle at the back. The wide belt doesn't actually have a buckle, it slides through a loop and friction of vinyl-on-vinyl is what holds it in place until the narrow belt quick-connector is latched. Thus both belts can be adjusted for comfort (and future weight changes). The lower photo shows the back buckling undone.</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Sq5ldswBNgY/VkJgjDwNNrI/AAAAAAAAAlc/-hUKPqGkJq0/s1600/Jedi_Belt_Buckle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Sq5ldswBNgY/VkJgjDwNNrI/AAAAAAAAAlc/-hUKPqGkJq0/s320/Jedi_Belt_Buckle.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6JshKba2aU8/VkJgoWoo6pI/AAAAAAAAAlk/gLdX-Hrc-S8/s1600/Jedi_Belt_Buckle_Open.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6JshKba2aU8/VkJgoWoo6pI/AAAAAAAAAlk/gLdX-Hrc-S8/s320/Jedi_Belt_Buckle_Open.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">I've encountered a problem with vinyl in the past regarding rivets where, as the vinyl stretches over time it gets loose around the rivets until they eventually tear out. I couldn't find rivets on short notice that would work anyway, so I decided to "fake" the belt rivets. I went to the hardware store an purchased ten aluminum "screw post assemblies" costing $0.49 each (eight longer ones and two short ones). I found eight washers in my kitchen junk drawer, then drilled out the holes so the screws would pass through, but the post couldn't. Below you can see close-up photos from both the front and back sides of these fake "guide rivets" for the narrow belt. I've also included a diagram to show you what these fake rivets are.</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7b5l_iY5r_o/VkJgxaYQzSI/AAAAAAAAAls/MG69r0xxnh4/s1600/Rivet_Front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7b5l_iY5r_o/VkJgxaYQzSI/AAAAAAAAAls/MG69r0xxnh4/s320/Rivet_Front.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8XLOTlm-A10/VkJg39DSWOI/AAAAAAAAAl0/dOKojBPo6Ds/s1600/Rivet_Back.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8XLOTlm-A10/VkJg39DSWOI/AAAAAAAAAl0/dOKojBPo6Ds/s320/Rivet_Back.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">The two "rivets" either side of the buckle on the narrow belt are 1/4" Aluminum Screw Posts (below left) [Part # 86145] and the eight belt guide "rivets" are 1/2" Aluminum Screw Posts (below right) [Part # 86147] both made by <a href="http://www.fastenerconnection.com/"><span class="s2"><b>Midwest Fastener</b></span></a> and purchased as "Handi-Packs" at my local hardware store.</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-e2WBzY4I874/VkJhCl6hmRI/AAAAAAAAAmA/PIRwZ1sprDM/s1600/quarter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-e2WBzY4I874/VkJhCl6hmRI/AAAAAAAAAmA/PIRwZ1sprDM/s1600/quarter.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PmHbWsAOkRc/VkJhKMr-68I/AAAAAAAAAmI/j0o33zddGdY/s1600/ScrewPost_Assmbly.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PmHbWsAOkRc/VkJhKMr-68I/AAAAAAAAAmI/j0o33zddGdY/s1600/ScrewPost_Assmbly.gif" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GNE-nhxmYf4/VkJhOgc7IwI/AAAAAAAAAmQ/vGDj9akPYv8/s1600/half.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GNE-nhxmYf4/VkJhOgc7IwI/AAAAAAAAAmQ/vGDj9akPYv8/s1600/half.jpg" /></a></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><br /><div class="p1"><span class="s1">Lastly, a Jedi needs some way to hang the lightsaber from the Utility Belt. The two options are either to use a Covertec pager clip or a D-ring and hanger. The hangers used in the movies were just a single "picture hook," which doesn't look very nice. Since my lightsaber actually has some heft to it I wanted a sturdy hanger - something that wouldn't concentrate too much weight in one place on the belt, but spread the load a bit, and also something that would secure the lightsaber without my having to worry about it falling off when walking around at a convention. Below is the strip of aluminum I made into my D-ring hanger.</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ENVM6Wfrt4U/VkJhXPJH8uI/AAAAAAAAAmY/4c7N5E_JopU/s1600/Saber_Hanger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ENVM6Wfrt4U/VkJhXPJH8uI/AAAAAAAAAmY/4c7N5E_JopU/s320/Saber_Hanger.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">More:</span><br /><a href="http://offworldgirl.blogspot.com/2015/11/star-wars-cosplay-jedi-costume.html">Jedi Costume</a><br /><span class="s1"><a href="http://offworldgirl.blogspot.com/2015/11/star-wars-cosplay-lightsaber-prop.html">Lightsaber Prop</a></span><br /><span class="s1"></span><br /><span class="s1"><a href="http://offworldgirl.blogspot.com/2015/11/star-wars-cosplay-jedi-pouches.html">Jedi Pouches</a></span></div>OffWorld Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239467069925469355noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780760006974194693.post-88047866616560248162015-11-10T14:50:00.001-08:002015-11-10T14:50:21.006-08:00Star Wars Cosplay: Lightsaber Prop<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4R9uHCqiHtA/VkJhpjRDmGI/AAAAAAAAAmg/5iFX4_fAuQ8/s1600/Lightsaber.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="151" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4R9uHCqiHtA/VkJhpjRDmGI/AAAAAAAAAmg/5iFX4_fAuQ8/s320/Lightsaber.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">Since I wasn't planning to do a specific character from the movies I had a lot more freedom in the design of my lightsaber prop, and hey. . .Jedi are SUPPOSED to build their own lightsaber from scrounged parts, right? Well, that's exactly what I did. I went down in my basement and found pretty much everything I needed to build the lightsaber you see pictured above.</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vMyenZjLlvA/VkJhxYVZ-AI/AAAAAAAAAmo/zY82i1AN66k/s1600/Saber_Parts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="196" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vMyenZjLlvA/VkJhxYVZ-AI/AAAAAAAAAmo/zY82i1AN66k/s320/Saber_Parts.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">Here are the parts I used to build the lightsaber:</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">A. Thumb-tighten set screw knob, I think it came off of a broken camera tripod but I'm not sure. I found it in a box of junk.</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">B. Chrome plastic knob off of a broken desk lamp (obstructed in view)</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">C. Hardened steel chrome pipe from a grab-bar (like used in bathrooms for disabled people).</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">D. Green LED bar graph left over from an electronics kit.</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">E. Metal shroud from around a connector inside a dead iMac G3</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">F. Faucet aerator</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">G. Chrome plastic Revlon lipstick tube</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">H. Extension tube from a broken vacuum cleaner</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">I. Scrap PVC plumbing pipe (cut and carved to shape with a Dremel moto-tool)</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">J. Flexible hose from the aforementioned broken vacuum cleaner</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">K. Sink drain basket (there are 2 of them, one is inside the PVC pipe)</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">L. "D-Ring" strap is a bent and drilled scrap of metal. I actually had to buy the D-ring though. It was the ONLY thing I bought.</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gTkpGF_4BZk/VkJh5rwwkuI/AAAAAAAAAmw/-BXNQwxNyVI/s1600/toplight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gTkpGF_4BZk/VkJh5rwwkuI/AAAAAAAAAmw/-BXNQwxNyVI/s320/toplight.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">As you can see above I also scavenged some screws and a microswitch from a broken DVD player. The metal shield not only protects the LED bar from damage, it actually is what's holding it onto the lightsaber hilt. The funky hex bolts were discards from a manufacturing company and cost me nothing.</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UDOqqKDcgw8/VkJh970nciI/AAAAAAAAAm4/937MySGIcnE/s1600/Emitter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="272" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UDOqqKDcgw8/VkJh970nciI/AAAAAAAAAm4/937MySGIcnE/s320/Emitter.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">The "Emitter" end has an orange LED taken from an old ATX computer tower (it was the hard-drive activity light). There was also a green "power" LED, but the bar graph on top is green so I decided the emitter should be orange. There is a reflector behind the LED taken from a broken flashlight which was a promotional give-away item.</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TEcyAxR5kM4/VkJiEfZv77I/AAAAAAAAAnA/a4Cjop5fPfA/s1600/Saber_Insides.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="196" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TEcyAxR5kM4/VkJiEfZv77I/AAAAAAAAAnA/a4Cjop5fPfA/s320/Saber_Insides.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><br /><div class="p1"><span class="s1">Changing the batteries can be a bit of a chore. The four hex bolts need to be loosened, and the two knobs near the emitter removed. Then the metal tube has to slide out until you can get at the 3-wire connector and disconnect it. Only then can the battery holder (a tube out of a toy telescope) be pulled out the front. The "Emitter Assembly" is shown disconnected here, though technically it doesn't have to be. The wiring and connectors came out of the aforementioned dead iMac G3. The positive and negative contacts for the battery holder were taken from the aforementioned broken flashlight. Below you can see a nice schematic of the wiring of my glorified flashlight:</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uzu97wksMRk/VkJiIC4nvrI/AAAAAAAAAnI/j0B9xogcr7U/s1600/wiring_diagram.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="184" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uzu97wksMRk/VkJiIC4nvrI/AAAAAAAAAnI/j0B9xogcr7U/s320/wiring_diagram.gif" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span class="s1">More:</span><br /><a href="http://offworldgirl.blogspot.com/2015/11/star-wars-cosplay-jedi-costume.html">Jedi Costume</a><br /><a href="http://offworldgirl.blogspot.com/2015/11/star-wars-cosplay-jedi-utility-belt.html">Utility Belt</a><br /><span class="s1"></span><br /><span class="s1"><a href="http://offworldgirl.blogspot.com/2015/11/star-wars-cosplay-jedi-pouches.html">Jedi Pouches</a></span><br /><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div>OffWorld Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239467069925469355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780760006974194693.post-32529642244121685122015-11-10T14:50:00.000-08:002015-11-10T14:50:19.348-08:00Star Wars Cosplay: Jedi Pouches<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ONOXlbyMGYc/VkJiol-hQKI/AAAAAAAAAnQ/JZFaVfpT9_g/s1600/Pouch_Illustration.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ONOXlbyMGYc/VkJiol-hQKI/AAAAAAAAAnQ/JZFaVfpT9_g/s320/Pouch_Illustration.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />The Jedi Pouches seen in the prequels aren't really pouches at all. They were cast resin props painted to look like hand-tooled leather. There are numerous sources online offering DIY kits for those pouches, both as solid blocks or modified so you can actually put small items inside them. I wanted functional pouches, and since one of my goals was to make the costume on the cheap (and quickly) I didn't have time or money for replica prop pouches. There ARE actually a couple leather pouches seen on Jedi belts, and at least <a href="http://mattmp.home.att.net/jedi_pouches.htm" target="_blank">one source online</a> I know of that sells leather reproductions of them.<br /><br />I had purchased far more vinyl than I thought I actually needed for my Jedi Utility Belt - just in case I made a mistake I wanted enough extra fabric to start over. Since the belt (mostly) went as planned I have more than enough vinyl to make some pouches too. However, trying to find a pattern online for pouches was a problem. I found a couple different patterns for the "Ammo Pouches" on Boba Fett's bandoliers, figuring maybe I could just modify them, but I wasn't happy with the way that looked. Then I found a PDF file tutorial on making leather utility belt pouches - which only references patterns in a book, but doesn't provide them. I also wasn't quite sure how big they were supposed to be, but I did know they were different sizes. Using the sizes listed on the aforementioned web site selling reproductions I got to work drafting my own patterns.<br /><br />Unfortunately that was as much as I got done before the convention. I didn't have time to actually MAKE the darned things, and ended up borrowing a Russian-surplus pouch for a field gun cleaning kit from my brother just so I could have something pouchy on my belt. Now that the convention is over I plan to get the pouches done at my leisure - and hopefully before I need them for the NEXT convention!<br /><br /><i>UPDATE: after the convention I did actually make a full set of these pouches, but they looked wrong being the same color and grain as the utility belt. &nbsp;So I tried to make them look like a richer leather and a bit distressed by spray painting them with a sort of reddish brown and wiping them while it was still wet. &nbsp;The effect was pretty good - the problem was the paint NEVER seemed to dry. &nbsp;The pouches remained sticky to the touch. &nbsp;I reluctantly had to throw them out and now don't have enough of the vinyl left to make another set. &nbsp;So, for now, I'll be sticking with the surplus pouches.</i><br /><h2>Pattern</h2><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8pi7ALBcptXQUNkTHU0WGEwTHc/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Here is a PDF file of the patterns I drafted for the pouches.</a> Just print it, cut out the pieces, trace them onto the back-side of your vinyl with a pencil and you'll have what you need. If you can swing it, these should probably be made of slightly darker color than the Utility Belt (or painted with vinyl paint). I'd also recommend faux aging them by roughing them up with sandpaper and/or a file and I've had some luck with brushing India Ink on the bottom edges and wiping it - it makes that dull, dark "leather that got wet" look.<br /><br /><span class="s1">More:</span><br /><a href="http://offworldgirl.blogspot.com/2015/11/star-wars-cosplay-jedi-costume.html">Jedi Costume</a><br /><a href="http://offworldgirl.blogspot.com/2015/11/star-wars-cosplay-jedi-utility-belt.html">Utility Belt</a><br /><span class="s1"><a href="http://offworldgirl.blogspot.com/2015/11/star-wars-cosplay-lightsaber-prop.html">Lightsaber Prop</a></span>OffWorld Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239467069925469355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780760006974194693.post-69556658995167955142015-11-10T14:46:00.001-08:002015-11-15T10:29:15.196-08:00Star Trek Cosplay: Assault Phaser Prop<div class="p1"><span class="s1">When it came to the question of what model phaser we'd be carrying on our hips, well it HAD to be the only cool phaser design Star Trek ever had (in my opinion). That would be the "Assault Phaser" that was based on a Beretta handgun. The image below, as near as I can figure, is a photo of an actual, screen-used, "Hero" prop from the Star Trek VI.</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ngyeQJAUlrM/VkJdZCuPE8I/AAAAAAAAAjQ/LCISReOwoyE/s1600/2177-0089b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ngyeQJAUlrM/VkJdZCuPE8I/AAAAAAAAAjQ/LCISReOwoyE/s1600/2177-0089b.jpg" /></a></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">This was another item I wasn't sure I'd find THREE of before the convention, so my "Plan B" was to make a wooden replica and then use that as a master from which to resin cast more, because there was no way I had enough time to scratch build three of them! It took me about a month of evenings to fabricate just one (but I admit, I'm not exactly a master woodworker). Keep in mind, too, as you look at the photos that when I built the wooden prop replica I didn't have ANY three-dimensional reference for making it. All I had were photos of the the screen-used props and numerous photos of other people's prop replicas, but I didn't actually have one in front of me from which I could work.</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">I kept an eye out on eBay, though, hoping I'd stumble across someone selling some of the toy Assault Phasers made by Playmates. But they often went for $70 or more and I didn't have a lot of money to play with. Ultimately I DID win a couple for about $40 each, so we didn't have to do resin casts of my wood prop replica. So, I ended up painting it and wearing it to the convention. The photos below show my wood prop replica as compared to the Playmates toy phasers.</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hHwxV7Tatao/VkJdjuZJPyI/AAAAAAAAAjY/lTohi2bpRQU/s1600/magplates.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="128" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hHwxV7Tatao/VkJdjuZJPyI/AAAAAAAAAjY/lTohi2bpRQU/s320/magplates.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">View showing the magazine plaques on the bottom (my wooden prop in the foreground, modified Playmates toy in the background)</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-72dGZxB7MVI/VkJdqAAOkTI/AAAAAAAAAjg/WE2H2tOTRrw/s1600/phasers_r.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-72dGZxB7MVI/VkJdqAAOkTI/AAAAAAAAAjg/WE2H2tOTRrw/s320/phasers_r.JPG" width="191" /></a></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">Right Side of my Assault Phaser prop (top) and the Playmates toy (bottom)</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NEb0AvvHkHs/VkJducqGMzI/AAAAAAAAAjo/CsstAE0VXRY/s1600/phasers_l.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NEb0AvvHkHs/VkJducqGMzI/AAAAAAAAAjo/CsstAE0VXRY/s320/phasers_l.JPG" width="204" /></a></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">Left sides of my Assault Phaser prop (top) and the Playmates toy (bottom)</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FokX3bDYWiw/VkJd2pvbMmI/AAAAAAAAAjw/uQlmeng_LKI/s1600/detail_r.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FokX3bDYWiw/VkJd2pvbMmI/AAAAAAAAAjw/uQlmeng_LKI/s1600/detail_r.JPG" /></a></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">Detail image of the right side of my wooden prop replica</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9agr0uvpj_8/VkJd8bPUfQI/AAAAAAAAAj4/AhcKq3Ros-0/s1600/detail_l.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9agr0uvpj_8/VkJd8bPUfQI/AAAAAAAAAj4/AhcKq3Ros-0/s1600/detail_l.JPG" /></a></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">Detail image of the left side of my wooden prop replica</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OGopgx-99iw/VkJeBZ1k8nI/AAAAAAAAAkA/N_BpE_WHHn8/s1600/phaser_holster.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OGopgx-99iw/VkJeBZ1k8nI/AAAAAAAAAkA/N_BpE_WHHn8/s1600/phaser_holster.JPG" /></a></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><br /><div class="p1"><span class="s1">closeup of phaser holster.<br /><br />Since I DO actually have one of the plastic toy versions of this Phaser I also have the cool blueprint that came with it. &nbsp;But I wondered what kind of documentation would Star Fleet personnel get? &nbsp;So just for fun I created a <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8pi7ALBcptXQkZ2aVZHN2lEekE/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Type II - Model VII Combat Phaser Star Fleet Handbook</a>&nbsp;using the illustrations I made as patterns for the wood replica.</span><br /><span class="s1"><br /></span><span class="s1">More:</span><br /><span class="s1"><a href="http://offworldgirl.blogspot.com/2015/11/star-trek-cosplay-nexus-vest.html">Nexus Vest</a></span><br /><a href="http://offworldgirl.blogspot.com/2015/11/star-trek-cosplay-communicator-props.html">Communicators</a><br /><br /></div>OffWorld Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239467069925469355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780760006974194693.post-26949724016443368702015-11-10T14:46:00.000-08:002015-11-10T14:46:13.336-08:00Star Trek Cosplay: Communicator Props<div class="p1"><span class="s1">I didn't care much for the communicators used in the Star Trek movies prior to "Star Trek V." The one from "Star Trek III" was okay, as it was again similar to the one from the original series, but I knew there actually had been toy walkie-talkies made for the fifth movie - and how cool would that be? Problem is they weren't SOLD, they were a "premium" item you could get through a mail-away offer. Which, of course, is why it's so hard to find them, and when you do they're often broken or super expensive.</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PTzpacdEuDA/VkJcpDqE2CI/AAAAAAAAAio/TSWohd6mVo0/s1600/comms_STV.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="288" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PTzpacdEuDA/VkJcpDqE2CI/AAAAAAAAAio/TSWohd6mVo0/s320/comms_STV.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">Above are what, to the best of my research knowledge, are photos of actual screen-used communicator props from "Star Trek V."</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">Anticipating the distinct possibility I'd never get my hands on a set of those walkie talkies (and the fact there were three of us doing the costumes, so I'd realistically need TWO sets - or at least one complete set and a partial set), I had a "Plan B" to fabricate communicator prop replicas out of wood. My initial notion was to make it so I could hide my mobile phone inside of it, but that didn't work out, so then I just decided to try and make a replica. This ended up being a LOT harder than I'd thought it would be, but the plan was to make one out of wood and make more from resin casts of it. My biggest headache was trying to figure out how to make the cover. I initially DID try to make it out of metal, but it wound up so weakened by all the slots cut in it that it broke almost immediately. I eventually ended up making one out of masonite with grooves carved in it with a Dremel moto-tool. You can see the results of that below.</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">Thankfully, as we were getting down to the wire (I think it was within a week or so of the convention), I won an auction on eBay for TWO complete sets of the "Star Trek V" walkie-talkies, in their original packaging, fully functional, and apparently never used! I sold the one set to my friends and kept one set for myself, and wow did those get attention from con-goers. :-) Anyway, below you can see my comparison photos between my attempt at a wooden prop replica and the toy walkie-talkies.</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-n4L4ppNjFtQ/VkJcuPbt1rI/AAAAAAAAAiw/IGcjkKkhbuk/s1600/comms_closed.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-n4L4ppNjFtQ/VkJcuPbt1rI/AAAAAAAAAiw/IGcjkKkhbuk/s320/comms_closed.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">Comparison between the Star Trek V walkie-talkie communicator and my wooden prop replica (which I didn't end up using because I had the walkie-talkie)</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vHdRM-d7m8I/VkJc3g2-5zI/AAAAAAAAAi4/2GL-RI3NyJU/s1600/comms_open.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vHdRM-d7m8I/VkJc3g2-5zI/AAAAAAAAAi4/2GL-RI3NyJU/s1600/comms_open.JPG" /></a></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">Star Trek V walkie-talkie communicator and my wooden prop replica with the covers open.</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-56r8VXdtTYg/VkJc77nCy_I/AAAAAAAAAjA/kd7rO_LTeCI/s1600/comms_sides.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-56r8VXdtTYg/VkJc77nCy_I/AAAAAAAAAjA/kd7rO_LTeCI/s1600/comms_sides.JPG" /></a></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">3/4 side view of the walkie-talkie communicator and my wooden prop replica.</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aLrytNluJ0g/VkJdBKGd9vI/AAAAAAAAAjI/NPsDp5a5Psg/s1600/comm_holster.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aLrytNluJ0g/VkJdBKGd9vI/AAAAAAAAAjI/NPsDp5a5Psg/s1600/comm_holster.JPG" /></a></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><br /><div class="p1"><span class="s1">Closeup of communicator holster I designed for it. There is an elastic strap across the front to make the holster "hug" the communicator because I was really afraid these were going to fall out and crash on a hard floor into a zillion pieces. Actually you had to kind of "work" them out of the holsters. The only real purpose of the notch in the front of it, though, was just so the holster didn't cover up so much of the communicator. I wanted people to be able to SEE it!<br /><br />More:<br /><a href="http://offworldgirl.blogspot.com/2015/11/star-trek-cosplay-nexus-vest.html">Nexus Vest</a><br /><a href="http://offworldgirl.blogspot.com/2015/11/star-trek-cosplay-assault-phaser-prop.html">Assault Phaser</a></span></div>OffWorld Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239467069925469355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780760006974194693.post-12487161576325559222015-11-10T14:45:00.000-08:002015-11-10T14:46:43.196-08:00Star Trek Cosplay: Nexus Vest<div class="p1"><span class="s1"><i>Note: This post originally appeared on my Comcast Personal Web Page, but they've discontinued and deleted all of those sites so I'm moving most of the content here.</i><br /><br />The "Nexus" vest was only ever seen on Kirk when he was in the Nexus during "Star Trek Generations." It was not seen with the belt worn over it, nor were rank pins or pips &amp; squeaks worn on it. Some liberties were taken there so the pins and belt could be used and so there would be somewhere to put the field gear. I had originally intended to make a tricorder that was actually a purse but didn't have time so I just made an actual purse "Starfleet Field Gear" by putting the emblem on it. It was large enough to double as my camera bag.</span></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p1"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yuAd6mk3-AQ/VkJbjTMWEFI/AAAAAAAAAiE/8_pbt7NhJlI/s1600/nexus_vest.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yuAd6mk3-AQ/VkJbjTMWEFI/AAAAAAAAAiE/8_pbt7NhJlI/s320/nexus_vest.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">Above is a photo of the completed Nexus Vest, Tunic, and Belt with empty phaser and communicator holsters.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2dpKD7cicP0/VkJbu0P28mI/AAAAAAAAAiM/RmNYH5efqkc/s1600/pins.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2dpKD7cicP0/VkJbu0P28mI/AAAAAAAAAiM/RmNYH5efqkc/s1600/pins.JPG" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">Detailed image of the Starfleet Badge, Pips &amp; Squeaks. The badge was just plated so it was painted the correct colors from the movies. Pips &amp; Squeaks were silver (Enlisted) and were painted gold (Commissioned) and one of the "five year" round pins was changed to a "ten year" by using the Dremel Rotary Tool to carve a Starfleet Delta in the surface.</span><br /><span class="s1"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4WKkGlUr54s/VkJb5SGMhOI/AAAAAAAAAiU/d187uwyOjoQ/s1600/bag.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4WKkGlUr54s/VkJb5SGMhOI/AAAAAAAAAiU/d187uwyOjoQ/s1600/bag.JPG" /></a></div><span class="s1"><br /></span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /></div><div class="p1"><span class="s1">My "Starfleet Equipment Bag" - it was a cheap "messenger bag" style purse from Target and I hand-painted the Starfleet Command insignia on it.</span></div><div class="p2"><span class="s1"></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_aDxhwamF-I/VkJb-zP8jhI/AAAAAAAAAic/-WjrHSVbVj8/s1600/belt_with_holsters.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_aDxhwamF-I/VkJb-zP8jhI/AAAAAAAAAic/-WjrHSVbVj8/s320/belt_with_holsters.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><br /><div class="p1"><span class="s1">Finished belt with my phaser and communicator holsters. I'm well aware that in the movies they didn't have holsters, but I didn't want to attach things to the belt with Velcro, so I designed and sewed the holsters shown here. The badge on the side of the phaser holster is a small badge from Roddenberry.com that not only dresses it up, but doubles as a way to keep the holster strap in place (which is what holds the phaser in the holster). The communicator prop has a thin, black elastic band sewn in at the top of the notch to help it "hug" the communictor. Initially the purpose of the notch was simply to not cover up so much of the communicator because I wanted to show it off. Both holsters are made out of a heavy upholstery-grade leather-grain vinyl that was flocked on the back. The belt was made out of a much thinner vinyl with a "waistband" stiffener material used to help it keep its shape. The buckle was purchased from Roddenberry.com and is fully functional, not just for looks.</span><br /><br />More:<br /><span class="s1">&nbsp;<a href="http://offworldgirl.blogspot.com/2015/11/star-trek-cosplay-assault-phaser-prop.html">Assault Phaser</a><br />&nbsp;<a href="http://offworldgirl.blogspot.com/2015/11/star-trek-cosplay-communicator-props.html">Communicators</a></span></div>OffWorld Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239467069925469355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780760006974194693.post-78551541465793221672015-11-07T13:39:00.000-08:002015-11-11T13:40:47.984-08:00Star Trek: TricordersThis is part of my research on Star Trek Tricorders, toward the ultimate end of building a prop replica with lights and sound. &nbsp;First, however, I wanted to figure out if there is actually any rhyme or reason to the model numbers for Tricorders - and just how many specialized variants ARE there? &nbsp;What you'll find below represents my best research and guesses as to what Tricorders existed at different "in universe" dates and what their possible (or known) model designations are.<br /><h3>Scanners (Pre-Tricorders)</h3><h4>2150's Earth Starfleet</h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cJBTqrLl2dU/VkJnlJ8begI/AAAAAAAAAnk/MhDI-7Jee-0/s1600/2151_scanner.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cJBTqrLl2dU/VkJnlJ8begI/AAAAAAAAAnk/MhDI-7Jee-0/s320/2151_scanner.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Hand Scanner</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_6QYNUFq8BU/VkJnqCbgVnI/AAAAAAAAAns/tImrWQMd6kI/s1600/Heavy_scanner_2152.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="245" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_6QYNUFq8BU/VkJnqCbgVnI/AAAAAAAAAns/tImrWQMd6kI/s320/Heavy_scanner_2152.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Heavy Duty Scanner</i></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-g1DOMDZu3eg/VkJnv87G8RI/AAAAAAAAAn0/qTr12BFhocI/s1600/MACO_Scanner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-g1DOMDZu3eg/VkJnv87G8RI/AAAAAAAAAn0/qTr12BFhocI/s320/MACO_Scanner.jpg" width="191" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>MACO Scanner</i></div><br />Medical Scanner (not shown) is basically a handheld scanner programmed for medical usage. Dr. Flox may have referred to it as a "Tricorder" in one Season 3 episode, if the off-screen device to which he was referring was his Medical Scanner. Perhaps Medical Tricorders were already in common usage on Denebulia and he just mis-spoke, or the terms "scanner" and "tricorder" were interchangeable during that era.<br /><h4>2150's Earth Sciences Institute</h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uvYrSgi_Z_w/VkJoHrX_wJI/AAAAAAAAAn8/jwfMRK_r9Ik/s1600/ESI_scanner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="244" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uvYrSgi_Z_w/VkJoHrX_wJI/AAAAAAAAAn8/jwfMRK_r9Ik/s320/ESI_scanner.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Standard Scanner</i></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZbSwcs_zXxE/VkJoO1DBHAI/AAAAAAAAAoE/dtJkw8drFMc/s1600/ESI_medical_scanner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="244" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZbSwcs_zXxE/VkJoO1DBHAI/AAAAAAAAAoE/dtJkw8drFMc/s320/ESI_medical_scanner.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Medical Scanner</i></div><br />These were not in use by Starfleet personnel, but were used by memebers of the Earth Sciences Institute. It is unknown if there was a "heavy duty" variant.<br /><h4>2150's Vulcan High Command</h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8GTRL58alE4/VkJoiML7bCI/AAAAAAAAAoM/HLc8452aa0c/s1600/Vulcan_tricorder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8GTRL58alE4/VkJoiML7bCI/AAAAAAAAAoM/HLc8452aa0c/s320/Vulcan_tricorder.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Standard Scanner</i></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yNR67-1SVGM/VkJphyvvjSI/AAAAAAAAAoU/64syyIcrdKs/s1600/notrekimg.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yNR67-1SVGM/VkJphyvvjSI/AAAAAAAAAoU/64syyIcrdKs/s1600/notrekimg.png" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Medical Scanner</i></div><br />One can assume that the Vulcan scanners were probably better than those in use by Humans given that Vulcan technology was generally more advanced.<br /><h4>2160's - 2250's</h4>Sometime during the period of the 2160's to 2250's Scanners fell out of use in favor of Tricorders. During the Pilot episode "The Cage" the landing party does not appear to use either type of device, though one crewman can be seen with a large backpack with antennas on it and another with two different box-like cases on shoulder straps, one of which is covered in black vinyl and may be an early, bulky, Tricorder.<br /><h3>Tricorders (TOS &amp; Original Cast Movies)</h3>For the Original Series and the original cast movies we aren't given model designations for the Tricorders. However, if you backtrack from the model numbers used in "The Next Generation" it's possible to make a best guess as to what the logical model numbers are for early Tricorders. That is, of course, assuming that Starfleet Research &amp; Development's naming conventions remained consistent between the TOS and later eras. For the purposes of compiling this list I am assuming those naming conventions are:<br /><br />1. Model Number (TR-XXX)<br /><br />2. Development Version (Mark X)<br /><br />3. Standard or Heavy Duty (Type 1 or 2 ; Type A or B)<br /><br />Starfleet R&amp;D also appears to introduce updates on approximately a ten year development cycle, with either a new model or new development version of an existing model.<br /><br />Given the uses we see for the "heavy duty" type in TOS it's obviously more ruggedly constructed and heavily shielded against external interference. But there's no reason to think the internal components are drastically different from a standard Tricorder, so I am going to assume that "Type 1" is a standard tricorder and "Type 2" is the heavy duty version. Also, for the purposes of my list I am going to arbitrarily assume that Starfleet switched from numeric "Type" designations to alphabetical ones.<br /><h4>2260's TR-460 MARK I Type 1 &amp; Type 2</h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2FbQQPEpK-0/VkJqAD9h02I/AAAAAAAAAoc/aDDcaajUJZc/s1600/tricorder-2260.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2FbQQPEpK-0/VkJqAD9h02I/AAAAAAAAAoc/aDDcaajUJZc/s320/tricorder-2260.jpg" width="273" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Science</i></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zOsIhwBCfcA/VkJqFzoXmsI/AAAAAAAAAok/30tawh1lv6k/s1600/TOS_Medical.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zOsIhwBCfcA/VkJqFzoXmsI/AAAAAAAAAok/30tawh1lv6k/s320/TOS_Medical.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Medical</i></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UWy8MhkS96Y/VkJqKchSIHI/AAAAAAAAAos/zakt6lI5Ook/s1600/HeavyDuty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UWy8MhkS96Y/VkJqKchSIHI/AAAAAAAAAos/zakt6lI5Ook/s320/HeavyDuty.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Heavy Duty</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bmPSSFn-blM/VkJqR_3u1iI/AAAAAAAAAo0/-wbGW3-Uj-w/s1600/dst_geo_tricorder1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bmPSSFn-blM/VkJqR_3u1iI/AAAAAAAAAo0/-wbGW3-Uj-w/s1600/dst_geo_tricorder1.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Geology Variant&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>TOS "That Which Survives"</i></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yNR67-1SVGM/VkJphyvvjSI/AAAAAAAAAoY/pLRcEZIcgf8/s1600/notrekimg.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yNR67-1SVGM/VkJphyvvjSI/AAAAAAAAAoY/pLRcEZIcgf8/s1600/notrekimg.png" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>PsychoTricorder Variant</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>TOS "Wolf in the Fold"</i></div><br /><br />The Starfleet Technical Manual lists both the "science" and "medical" versions as being a Tricorder Type 1. So obviously it didn't matter what specific use for which the Tricorder was configured, meaning the "geology" and "psycho" variants are ALSO of Type 1.<br /><br /><i>Note: The Heavy Duty Tricorder prop was a modificed Nuclear-Chicago Model 2586 "Cutie Pie" radiation detector.</i><br /><br /><h4>2270's - 2280s TR-470 MARK II Type 1 &amp; Type 2</h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kRl8TCdHw1o/VkJqx7listI/AAAAAAAAAo8/77fiK1aN-E0/s1600/tricorder-2271-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kRl8TCdHw1o/VkJqx7listI/AAAAAAAAAo8/77fiK1aN-E0/s320/tricorder-2271-1.jpg" width="261" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Science</i></div><br />This is never actually given a model designation, but if one assumes the TOS Tricorder was the Mark I, then this may be the "Mark II Type 1."<br /><br />A "medical" variant isn't shown, but can be assumed to have existed, which would have also been of Type 1.<br /><br />A "Heavy Duty" version isn't shown either, but can also be assumed to have existed, and given the massive amount of redesign to all Starfleet equipment during the era of "The Motion Picture" it is doubtful that the TOS-era one remained in use. Given that "heavy duty" versions don't look like the standard ones, it must be "Type 2."<br /><br /><h4>2280's TR-480 MARK III Type 1 &amp; Type 2</h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OookLxbtqrI/VkJrD6a9sII/AAAAAAAAApE/gKBmmB5ZjTM/s1600/ST3_Tricorder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OookLxbtqrI/VkJrD6a9sII/AAAAAAAAApE/gKBmmB5ZjTM/s320/ST3_Tricorder.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Science</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Star Trek III</i></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TOs21cgm6ak/VkJrKCcwj9I/AAAAAAAAApM/2JZyue_WoSo/s1600/MedicalSTV.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TOs21cgm6ak/VkJrKCcwj9I/AAAAAAAAApM/2JZyue_WoSo/s320/MedicalSTV.jpg" width="317" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Medical</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Star Trek VI</i></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cpLayEdHXoY/VkJrStNK-VI/AAAAAAAAApU/KAWM4AsI-Rc/s1600/TWOK_Tricorder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cpLayEdHXoY/VkJrStNK-VI/AAAAAAAAApU/KAWM4AsI-Rc/s320/TWOK_Tricorder.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Heavy Duty&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Star Trek II</i></div><br />I'm going to assume that since uniforms and other equipment underwent a redesign in the 2280's, the Heavy Duty Tricorder seen in Star Trek II would not be the same model as one in use during The Motion Picture era, and would keep pace with whatever updates were made to the standard format Tricorders.<br /><br />I have seen prop replicas of the ST3 Tricorder with a "Mark IV" label, which may also be acceptable, as I note in the next section.<br /><h4>2290's, 2300's, 2310's, 2320's, 2330's, 2340's, 2350's MARK IV &amp; MARK V</h4>If the first folding Tricorders weren't introduced until The Next Generation era the Mark IV and Mark V may have been based on the 2280's design, or may have been completely new designs we never got to see. However, given that some people have assigned "Mark IV" to the ST3 Tricorder I'm going to say that at least THAT one was of the same design, and we can only guess as to what the Mark V may have looked like.<br /><br /><i>I'm assuming models TR-550, 540, 530, 520, 510, 500, and 490 were all released during this time period.</i><br /><br /><h3>Tricorders (TNG/DS9/VOY &amp; New Cast Movies)</h3><h4>2360's TR-560 Mark VI &amp; TR-580 Mark VII</h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-96TqgImRGk4/VkJrtsp9hkI/AAAAAAAAApc/NcO5bpn1rRY/s1600/MarkVI.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-96TqgImRGk4/VkJrtsp9hkI/AAAAAAAAApc/NcO5bpn1rRY/s320/MarkVI.jpg" width="177" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Science</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>TR-560 Mark VI Type A</i></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lIvuQTYKoA0/VkJr1h5MmjI/AAAAAAAAApk/Wtm5t-hpEGc/s1600/typevii-medical-tricorder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="305" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lIvuQTYKoA0/VkJr1h5MmjI/AAAAAAAAApk/Wtm5t-hpEGc/s320/typevii-medical-tricorder.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Science &amp; Medical</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>TR-580 Mark VII Type A</i></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FwjuxZcp8bY/VkJr7DctQ0I/AAAAAAAAAps/kDzqYWjO-2U/s1600/Red_tricorder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FwjuxZcp8bY/VkJr7DctQ0I/AAAAAAAAAps/kDzqYWjO-2U/s1600/Red_tricorder.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Red Medical Tricorder</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>TR-580 Mark VIII Type A</i></div><br />Variants:<br />TR-560 Standard Tricorder Mark VI<br />TR-580 Standard Tricorder Mark VII<br />TR-580 Medical Tricorder Mark VII<br />TR-580 Medical Tricorder Mark VIII (assumed) was a RED Tricorder mounted at each Biobed in Sickbay aboard Voyager, and is therefore assumed to be a Medical variant, probably used in conjunction with the Biobeds for emergency diagnostics. It was replaced in later seasons by a PADD.<br /><br /><i>Note: There must also have been a TR-570 during this time, probably very similar to the 560 and 580. It's also possible it the model wasn't released, and the 580 was instead. There must have been either significant advances or problems with Tricorders during the 2360's for Starfleet R&amp;D to burn through three model numbers in one decade.</i><br /><h4>2370's TR-590 MARK IX &amp; MARK X&nbsp;</h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mgA4QLgEomA/VkJsVSLGrMI/AAAAAAAAAp0/XZKrU6LA3nU/s1600/VOY_MK9_SCI.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mgA4QLgEomA/VkJsVSLGrMI/AAAAAAAAAp0/XZKrU6LA3nU/s320/VOY_MK9_SCI.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Science</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>TR-590 Mark IX Type A</i></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6hB1vtjhNzQ/VkJsYaFVEmI/AAAAAAAAAp8/yyRLgkS2U1E/s1600/armband-tricorder-insurrection.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6hB1vtjhNzQ/VkJsYaFVEmI/AAAAAAAAAp8/yyRLgkS2U1E/s320/armband-tricorder-insurrection.jpg" width="270" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>TR-590 Mark IX or X Type B&nbsp;</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Wrist Tricorder</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Insurrection</i></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AvK34yp_b1E/VkJsdy38OvI/AAAAAAAAAqE/mGFBYe6JvFI/s1600/MarkX_side.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AvK34yp_b1E/VkJsdy38OvI/AAAAAAAAAqE/mGFBYe6JvFI/s320/MarkX_side.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Science</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>TR-590 Mark X Type A</i></div><br />Variants:<br />TR-590 Science Tricorder Mark IX Type A (type assumed) [2nd Season VOYAGER]<br /><br />TR-590 Medical Tricorder Mark IX Type A (assumed to have existed, type assumed as well)<br /><br />Wrist Tricorder might be a TR-590 Mark IX or X of Type B (assumed) [Star Trek: Insurrection]<br /><br />TR-590 Standard Tricorder Mark X Type A (type assumed)<br /><br />TR-590 Medical Tricorder Mark X Type A (type is assumed)<br /><br /><h4>2380's TR-600 Mark XI Type A</h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZLhKLel7gms/VkJsyDmbjpI/AAAAAAAAAqM/1kU8XjGYznI/s1600/Nemesis_Tricorder.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZLhKLel7gms/VkJsyDmbjpI/AAAAAAAAAqM/1kU8XjGYznI/s320/Nemesis_Tricorder.gif" width="270" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Standard</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>TR-600 Mark XI Type A</i></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-h6uwzdPbxLc/VkJs1KVmLCI/AAAAAAAAAqU/WdiXDXvwzHQ/s1600/Medicaltricorder_2379.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="136" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-h6uwzdPbxLc/VkJs1KVmLCI/AAAAAAAAAqU/WdiXDXvwzHQ/s320/Medicaltricorder_2379.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Medical</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>TR-600 Mark XI Type A</i></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NbFpaJPJRmo/VkJs6_eEFfI/AAAAAAAAAqc/3DcZmjnHW5M/s1600/Starfleet_Tricorder_2379.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="136" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NbFpaJPJRmo/VkJs6_eEFfI/AAAAAAAAAqc/3DcZmjnHW5M/s320/Starfleet_Tricorder_2379.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Science</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>TR-600 Mark XI Type A</i></div><br />The Tricorder Mark XI is only seen in Star Trek: Nemesis. It has a large touch screen interface, only a small door closes at top. The model number TR-600 is an extrapolation from previous models, which appear to increment in tens.<br /><br />Variants:<br />Standard (a.k.a. Science)<br />Medical<br /><br /><h4>2400's TR-620 Mark XII&nbsp;</h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tyNp75MlADU/VkJtMs4EALI/AAAAAAAAAqk/IJjIZW995jM/s1600/tricorder-2404.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tyNp75MlADU/VkJtMs4EALI/AAAAAAAAAqk/IJjIZW995jM/s320/tricorder-2404.jpg" width="180" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i>TR-620 Mark XII Type A [VOYAGER: Endgame]</i></div><br />Variants:<br />Standard (is like the Mark X with more touch surfaces)<br />Medical (has a small antenna scanner)<br /><br /><i>Note: The model number is extrapolated from prior models. If new models are slated for release on a ten year development cycle, and the 590's were introduced in the 2370's, then by the 2400's they should be up to about model 620.</i><br /><h4>2410's to 2790's</h4>We have no idea what Tricorders were like during this very long time period, though the folding design seems to be be in use in the 29th Century. However, it may have simply come back into style. Model numbers appear to continue onward encompassing models TR-630 to TR-880.<br /><br /><h4>2800's TR-890 Tricorder Mark XV Type A</h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-t0SuS-nkMI0/VkJteBQZGnI/AAAAAAAAAqs/N56AyQxdZ9I/s1600/tricorder-relativity.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="184" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-t0SuS-nkMI0/VkJteBQZGnI/AAAAAAAAAqs/N56AyQxdZ9I/s320/tricorder-relativity.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />Variants:<br /><br />TR-890 Mark XV Science [VOYAGER: Relativity] Type A (assumed)<br />TR-890 Mark XV Type A Medical (assumed to exist)<br />TR-890 Mark XV Type B Heavy Duty (assumed to exist)OffWorld Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239467069925469355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780760006974194693.post-81071169147416132442015-04-22T12:04:00.000-07:002015-04-23T13:16:44.373-07:00Star Wars Spoiler: New Emperor Revealed!Whoa, now how did everyone miss this HUGE spoiler in the new Star Wars trailer? &nbsp;When you zoom in on the Ultra-HD version you can see who the NEW EMPEROR is behind all those "First Order" Stormtroopers:<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tDL2y42Z2Q4/VTf0k5pRqUI/AAAAAAAAAgs/mvHCbZo_Iwc/s1600/starwars.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tDL2y42Z2Q4/VTf0k5pRqUI/AAAAAAAAAgs/mvHCbZo_Iwc/s1600/starwars.gif" height="180" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />Bazinga! :-P<br /><span id="goog_841838306"></span>OffWorld Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239467069925469355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780760006974194693.post-67362373258754074002014-08-18T15:36:00.001-07:002014-12-29T13:51:30.447-08:00Kindle Fire HDX Tablet + XBMC<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wNgoAJF5N_M/U_J_x3z7c4I/AAAAAAAAAdM/xmks0_E5rCU/s1600/DSCF5374.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wNgoAJF5N_M/U_J_x3z7c4I/AAAAAAAAAdM/xmks0_E5rCU/s1600/DSCF5374.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><div class="p1">My brother’s employer gave him a Kindle Fire HDX tablet to commemorate his however many long years’ service with them.&nbsp; He says he wasn’t expecting anything, so he can hardly complain, but said to me “what the heck am I going to do with this thing?”</div><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p1">Well the Kindle tablets are really only made for one purpose: to buy things from Amazon.&nbsp; It’s not like he hasn’t bought things from Amazon before, but he can’t really wrap his head around why anyone would spend good money on “virtual” items.&nbsp; Suffice it to say Amazon is unlikely to get much, if any, revenue via this particular tablet.&nbsp; So he handed it off to me and asked if I could “do something useful with it.”</div><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p1">Why YES, I think I can. ;-)</div><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p1">Back at the end of 2009 I collected junk computer parts from friends and family, and out of the pile of junk I put together one functional computer, installed Linux Mint, and then XBMC runs on top of that [&nbsp;<a href="http://offworldgirl.blogspot.com/2010/01/adventures-in-building-htpc.html">details</a>&nbsp;]&nbsp; That’s my media center - sort of a homebrew Roku.&nbsp; And it has served me well for countless hours of viewing and listening to music.&nbsp; My entire CD collection was ripped to MP3 and OGG files on it.&nbsp; Numerous DVDs and downloaded video files are on there, plus a bunch of XBMC “Add-ons” that access various streaming media sites.&nbsp; There is a TV tuner in that tower, but it’s analog and basically pointless now.&nbsp; I’d put it in there for some 3rd party DVR software I ultimately never ended up using - because just about anything I missed when it aired could be found online. In practice the Internet was my DVR.&nbsp; There is also a DVD player in the tower, which did do DVD duty before an actual BluRay player took up residence under the TV.</div><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p1">Also, this old Linux box has a pretty underpowered video card in it.&nbsp; It was fine when it was connected to the yellow RCA video jack on the back of the old CRT TV because that couldn’t show anything but SD quality video anyway.&nbsp; But now that it’s connected to an HDTV its output looks as awfully low-res as it actually is.&nbsp; The XBMC software is stuck on a specific alpha release “nightly build” of “Gotham” - the actual version of Linux Mint is no longer officially supported.&nbsp; Thanks to some hardware issues, though, I can’t update the Linux OS on it and that means I can’t update the media center software either.&nbsp; I’ve also had to hack the code on three different plugins already just to keep them running.&nbsp; The Hulu plugin has been broken for a while for everyone, and the developers have doubts it will ever work again (thanks to some CDN/DRM stuff being done on Hulu’s end).</div><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p1">Suffice it to say this media center tower’s days are numbered.</div><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p1">But I’ve been wondering what to replace it with?&nbsp; Buy a really long HDMI cable to reach from my desktop computer to the TV? OpenELEC on a Raspberry Pi?&nbsp; Buy a used Apple TV to jailbreak and install XBMC?&nbsp; Knuckle under and buy a Roku like everyone else?</div><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p1">However, as this Kindle Fire HDX has dropped in my lap I think I’ll use that! &nbsp;I rather like the idea of having a media center I can hold in my hand that is also a touch "remote" control for it.</div><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p1">So here’s been the change log so far:</div><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p1">1. Installed the 2.14 Hulu Plus app for Android.&nbsp; It was recently updated to allow watching almost all of the same FREE content on mobile devices as you can watch on their website from a desktop computer.&nbsp; Unfortunately the Amazon App Store only has the older 1.3 version of the app.&nbsp; So I had to pull it from an Android phone and side-load it to the tablet.&nbsp; But it works great!</div><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p1">2. Installed the Crunchyroll Anime app.&nbsp; Again, I had to pull it from a phone and side-load it to the tablet because the Amazon App Store only has the Crunchyroll Manga app.</div><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p1">3. Downloaded and installed (again via side-loading) the XBMC “Gotham” app for Android.&nbsp; On this tablet the media center software is very smooth!</div><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p1">4. Loaded up XBMC with my favorite add-ons.</div><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p1">5. I’m moving all the media files off the old media center to my desktop computer - only because it’s on all the time anyway.&nbsp; Then I’m just going to leave a UPnP server running in the background to share all those files over my LAN.&nbsp; That way the Kindle tablet’s XBMC can play that stuff, but it doesn’t have to eat up the limited storage on the tablet itself.&nbsp; At some point maybe I’ll replace this with a NAS, but not today.&nbsp; Or I could just stash the old Linux tower somewhere and leave it on all the time, but that seems wasteful when I already HAVE a computer that’s on all the time.</div><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p1">6. The last, and most important piece of the puzzle, is the Miracast box.&nbsp; The Kindle Fire HDX - unlike the earlier HD tablets - does not have an HDMI output port on it!&nbsp; Instead it uses Miracast to mirror to another display.&nbsp; Netgear makes such a box that is “Amazon Certified” to work with this specific tablet.&nbsp; Once that’s in place behind the TV and plugged into one of the HDMI ports the “media center” will be this little tablet on the coffee table, which (since it mirrors the displays) will also effectively be the remote control.&nbsp; Oh, and Miracast can mirror in full HD - assuming the content is in high-def.</div><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p1">Note: Belkin also makes a little “stick” you plug into the HDMI port, also powered by a USB port, that says it should work with this tablet too.&nbsp; But it was unclear from Belkin’s documentation whether or not the HDMI port needed to support the CEC (Consumer Electronics Control) protocol.&nbsp; The TV to which I’m connecting this stuff does not appear to have CEC capability.</div><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p1">If you read all that you may be wondering about YouTube content?&nbsp; The Amazon tablets can’t actually run the YouTube app (at least not without problems - blame both Amazon and Google for “business decisions” that make it incompatible).&nbsp; But that doesn’t really matter.&nbsp; Amazon’s “Silk” browser plays YouTube videos from the YouTube website just like you see them on your desktop.&nbsp; And I’ve confirmed that the Android version of the Chrome browser (which you have to side-load of course) does the same on a Kindle.&nbsp; I may see if the Dolphin browser works on the Kindle too - I really like how much more configurable it is comparison to either Chrome or Silk.&nbsp; Of course the XBMC install also has a fully working YouTube add-on.</div><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p1">I didn’t really care about any other Google services apps on this thing.&nbsp; It’s going to be a media center, after all.&nbsp; It doesn’t need Gmail on it, or Hangouts, or Google+, or Maps, etc.&nbsp; I know there’s nothing anyone’s been able to do to get the Google Play store app to work on a Kindle, but side-loading isn’t too much of an inconvenience.</div><div class="p2"><br /></div><div class="p1">The existing media center tower also has some games on it [&nbsp;<a href="http://offworldgirl.blogspot.com/2010/01/breakneck-nice2-excessive-speed-on.html">details</a>&nbsp;].&nbsp; Old PC games running in WINE (Windows) or DOS emulators, or emulated cartridge games from the Atari 2600 and C64 [&nbsp;<a href="http://offworldgirl.blogspot.com/2010/02/xbmc-emulation-station.html">details</a>&nbsp;]. Games that rarely got played once the nostaligic novelty wore off.&nbsp; However, if I wanted to I could get most of those working on the Kindle too.</div><div class="p2"><br /></div><br /><div class="p1">If it ever felt starved for more content this tablet could also play host to apps for Netflix and HBO-Go and it came with Amazon Prime video and music apps on it.&nbsp; Of course all of those have additional subscription costs, but NONE of them are even an option for the old Linux box.</div><div class="p1"><br /></div><div class="p1"><i>Side note: XBMC will be changing its name to "Kodi" with the next release, apparently partly due to legal issues but also because it has little to do with the Xbox anymore. &nbsp;<a href="http://xbmc.org/introducing-kodi-14/">Full story</a> on their site.</i><br /><i><br /></i><b>UPDATE:</b><br /><i><br /></i><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iZhfofF0XYg/U_o6_xjflnI/AAAAAAAAAdY/81jLkwbjGpY/s1600/ptv3000.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iZhfofF0XYg/U_o6_xjflnI/AAAAAAAAAdY/81jLkwbjGpY/s1600/ptv3000.png" height="147" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />Ok, so now have the <a href="http://www.netgear.com/home/products/connected-entertainment/wireless-display-adapters/PTV3000.aspx" target="_blank">Netgear "Push 2 TV" PTV-3000</a>&nbsp;which was really the only option. &nbsp;There are only two "Miracast" dongles certified by Amazon to work with the Kindle Fire HDX tablets and the Belkin <i>does</i> require a television with an HDMI port that supports CEC. &nbsp;I verified with Vizio that my particular TV does not have CEC support (I suspected that was the case given there is no setting for it and it isn't mentioned in the manual). &nbsp;That means the Netgear box was the only thing that could make this work.<br /><br />Note that you absolutely NEED a laptop or computer with wi-fi capabilities to update the firmware. &nbsp;You could probably also do it with some tablets or phones, but the key part is that you actually have to DOWNLOAD the firmware .sbin file, press the button on the side of the PTV for 7-10 seconds which turns on the wi-fi, then you have to join the Push2TV wi-fi network, open a browser to the device's settings webpage (kind of like when you access the settings for your router), browse to the downloaded firmware file (this is the part that would be tricky to do on most phones or tablets since they don't tend to have native file browsers), then apply the update. &nbsp;The box automatically reboots after ANY settings change.<br /><br />Here's my main problem with using the Kindle Fire HDX this way. &nbsp;It has a 16:10 ratio screen! Amazon specifically chose that ratio because it is slightly more square, which is better for reading in portrait mode (without going full 4:3 ratio like the iPad) and only causes slight letter-boxing of 16:9 ratio content in landscape orientation.<br /><br />The native resolution of the HDX 7 inch screen is 1900x1200 and the HDX 8.9 is 2560x1600. &nbsp;I'm working with the latter and I suppose "yay it has a higher than HD screen" but that's not really an advantage here.<br /><br />The Netgear PTV box will only accept a maximum "full hd" (1920x1080) for mirroring. &nbsp;So no matter what the Kindle HDX output over Miracast <b>is going to be scaled down</b>, even from the 7" tablet. &nbsp;This is because your HDTV has a 16:9 screen ratio and the Kindle tablets can ONLY send a 16:10 picture. &nbsp;Remember, this is display *mirroring* so it's going to work with the screen ratio of the sending device. &nbsp;This isn't so much of a problem from a Windows laptop using Wi-Di to connect because you can change the screen resolution (and therefore aspect ratio), but you cannot do this on a Kindle or any other tablet. &nbsp;What that means is the best match you can get will have black bars to the left and right of the mirrored display, opposite of "letter boxed" this is known as a "pillar box" like this:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8w8VGE-v82g/U_o-8nw5KDI/AAAAAAAAAdk/q69vXhJyzcM/s1600/PillarBox.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8w8VGE-v82g/U_o-8nw5KDI/AAAAAAAAAdk/q69vXhJyzcM/s1600/PillarBox.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">(image from&nbsp;<a href="http://www.hdslr-cinema.com/tools/aspect.php">http://www.hdslr-cinema.com/tools/aspect.php</a>)</span><br /><br />I can usually live with a little bit of a letter-boxed picture, especially if the intent of it is to preserve the original aspect ratio of a movie. &nbsp;I can even live with a 4:3 ratio pillar-box if the TV show was originally made for old "square" television screens. &nbsp;But the pillar-box created by mirroring a 16:10 screen to a 16:9 screen sort of pisses me off. &nbsp;Especially if you're watching something on the tablet that is in widescreen (16:9) because then the tablet letter-boxes it and then the mirroring pillar-boxes it - you end up with black bars all the way around the video!<br /><br />Actually when you first connect the Kindle HDX tablet to the Netgear PTV you'll notice that even the mirrored screen has narrow black bars above and below (in addition to the side bars). &nbsp;This is where you need to push the little button on the side of the PTV for 7-10 seconds again, connect to that set-up webpage with your laptop, and go to the "Settings" section. &nbsp;There is an undocumented setting to "Resize" the screen on your TV with a drop-down of values from zero to 15.<br /><br />Zero to 15 what? &nbsp;I'm not sure. &nbsp;It's pretty clear that the "Miracast" mirroring favors the screen HEIGHT over the width, and if I set it to "15" (any settings change causes the PTV box to reboot) then the top/bottom bars are gone from the mirrored HDX display. &nbsp;At least it better uses more of the available screen real estate, but nothing is going to get rid of the pillar-boxing because of the aspect ratio difference. &nbsp;:/<br /><br />My TV, however, like most HDTVs does have a "Wide" setting that zooms or distorts the video. &nbsp;Exactly how this gets implemented varies greatly from one TV to another but my options are:<br /><br /><br /><ul><li><b>Normal</b> (displays the source in the ratio it was received)</li><li><b>Wide</b> (what this does varies depending on the source)</li><li><b>Zoom</b> (magnifies a 16:9 ratio portion of the middle of the image)</li><li><b>Stretch</b> (distorts about 1/4 of each side of the image, stretching it to fill to the left/right of the screen)</li></ul><br /><br />The pillar-box graphic above is how it looks in "Normal" mode. &nbsp;"Wide" slightly zooms in, cropping the very top and bottom off the picture. &nbsp;In practice this is the best solution as it only takes off the status bar at the top of the tablet, and when watching 16:9 videos they are slightly letter-boxed on the Kindle HDX screen anyway, so the "Wide" setting just crops off that letter-boxing. &nbsp;However, the aspect ratio difference still leaves a narrow pillar-boxing on the screen (but I think I can live with it). &nbsp;If the source video is 4:3 ratio you use the "Normal" view so the very top and bottom of the picture don't get cropped off.<br /><br /><i>Side note: You'll notice I said that "Wide" button action varies depending on the source. &nbsp;Well, anything coming in through the A/V RCA video jack on the back is simply stretched to fill the space both top/bottom and left/right. &nbsp;If you connect a computer using the VGA port you don't have ANY of these zoom functions available. &nbsp;If I connect my other Android tablet to the TV with the HDMI cable it's mirrored screen is stretched to fill the space just like anything over the A/V connector. &nbsp;The "Stretch" setting is the most useless thing I've ever seen. &nbsp;So even on this single television there is no real consistency with the zoom setting, therefore I won't hazard to guess how it might work on whatever TV you might have.</i><br /><br />I also tried setting the screen "Resize" drop-down on the PTV to zero. &nbsp;This gives you a pretty small picture in the middle of your TV screen, but if you are watching 16:9 widescreen video on it and use the "Zoom" setting the 16:9 picture will be magnified to fill the entire TV screen - though it will not be as sharp because it is being scaled up. &nbsp;So hooray! &nbsp;It gets rid of both the letter-boxing and the pillar-boxing - but it actually ends up cropping a bit off all sides. &nbsp;If you were watching something 4:3, though, you'd have to use "Normal" view and it would be small in the middle of the screen. &nbsp;Or you stay zoomed in and crop rather a lot of the top and bottom of the picture.<br /><br />If you are watching content in XBMC it has controls for full customization of the scaling and positioning of the picture, so you can tweak and optimize it to your liking. &nbsp;However other video apps like Hulu+, Crunchyroll, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, etc., do not have these sorts of adjustments available.<br /><br />The blurry image and overscan while zoomed were the reasons I ultimately didn't use the "zero" setting. &nbsp;The underscan of the "15" setting, in conjunction with the "Wide" zoom setting still leaves a little pillar-boxing, but after a couple hours watching - especially in a dark room - I stopped noticing it.<br /><br />Another thing to note about this display mirroring is that the screen on the tablet will be ON. &nbsp;In a dark room watching the big screen you'll probably want to have the tablet in a cover, slipcase, drawer, or lay it screen down. &nbsp;Also a good idea to reduce the screen brightness as much as possible - not only is it less of an impact on your eyes when you DO need to use the tablet as a remote control, if you are running on battery power dimming the brightness can extend the runtime.<br /><b><br /></b><b>UPDATE #2:</b><br />I was wondering if there might be an Android display changer app that could change the Miracast output resolution - something that would let me switch the output to 16:9. &nbsp;Well the bad news is that the only such apps on the market all require you to have a rooted device. &nbsp;I don't want to root this tablet if I can help it.<br /><br />A secondary problem is that people have tried apps like that on the Kindle, and while they will alter the display on tablet's screen they don't do anything to the mirrored output. &nbsp;Then I ran across <a href="http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2417138&amp;page=2" target="_blank">this post over at XDA</a> where someone with a previous generation Kindle tablet found that the Amazon Prime Video player WILL actually change the output aspect resolution (and ratio) when mirrored to your TV. &nbsp;So I tried it with the HDX and can confirm that, yes, the Amazon Prime Video player (and ONLY that player) will switch to 1920x1080 - and the 16:9 aspect ratio - when you pop the video fullscreen (it is cropped on the tablet screen actually). &nbsp;I also tried it with the default video player that it uses when you click on a YouTube video in the Silk browser. &nbsp;Nope, sorry, that outputs in 16:10 ratio. &nbsp;As will EVERY player other than Amazon's own video service.<br /><br />This means that the tablet IS technically capable of changing the display resolution output over Miracast. &nbsp;But Amazon chose not to give this to end users in the Display Settings, or access to any other apps when they are popped fullscreen. &nbsp;I really hope a future Fire OS update adds that capability, but I'm not going to hold my breath. &nbsp;Amazon has a vested interest in making the experience only work properly in their own app.<br /><br /><b>UPDATE #3:</b><br />The tablet had the "Fire OS 4.1.1" update pushed to it and it messed up the Display Mirroring something awful. It would be all pixelated with the sound and picture dropping out or freezing, it would take multiple attempts to get the tablet to connect to the Netgear box. &nbsp;It didn't matter what video app you used, even scrolling or swiping in the OS would break up into blocks and pixels on the mirror device - while everything was smooth and nice on the tablet's screen itself.<br /><br />Ultimately I ended up contacting Amazon customer service who routed me to Tech Support and they suggested doing a Factory Reset on it. &nbsp;I was leery of doing that since there are numerous horror stories of bricking Kindle's that way, but I was reassured if it bricked they'd just ship a replacement so, fingers crossed, I reset it. &nbsp;When everything came back up, lo and behold, the display mirroring was fixed. &nbsp;Then I just needed to reinstall the apps downloaded from Amazon's App Store and re-do the side-loaded apps with a USB cable and my desktop computer.<br /><br />So if you're setting up a Kindle tablet as your media center and a software update messes up display mirroring it appears that a Factory Reset does fix whatever causes the problem.<br /><br /><b>UPDATE #4:</b><br />No, a "Factory Reset" only temporarily fixed it. &nbsp;After the tablet was rebooted the problems returned. &nbsp;Then it announced there was yet another System Update available, so I thought "Ok, maybe this is the bug fix" and applied it. &nbsp;It took me from Fire OS 4.1.1 to version...4.1.1? &nbsp;WFT? &nbsp;Afterwards it's still screwed up, just not quite as badly.<br /><br />1. The tablet has to be literally laying next to the Netgear box to get a clear signal. &nbsp;Even then, when you start pretty much any video app, it takes about 30 seconds of heavy pixelation and sound drop-outs before the picture stabilizes. &nbsp;If it cuts to a new stream (for example in apps that run commercials) it will go through this choppy drop-out business with the new stream. &nbsp;The video is playing smoothly the entire time on the tablet screen, however, so it is NOT a network issue with the wi-fi, it HAS to be a network issue with the wireless display signal.<br /><br />2. Some video apps will be really, really slow buffering or loading thumbnails when the display is being mirrored. &nbsp;Almost as if mirroring is somehow choking the wi-fi network signal (except they are different devices on different frequencies, so how?). &nbsp;For example, the CW network app loads thumbnails and plays videos almost instantly when not mirroring the display. &nbsp;When mirrored most of the thumbnails NEVER load and the video can take up to a minute to even start, and then is so choppy and pixelated as to be unwatchable. &nbsp;Why does it work fine when mirroring is turned off? &nbsp;I've no idea.<br /><br />I can't think of anything Amazon customer/technical service could do to help aside from fix their buggy OS software in a future update OR allow people to roll the damned OS version back.<br /><br />I'll admit I have no idea if the problem might be the Netgear Push2TV box either. &nbsp;The Kindle is the only device in the house that supports it, so I've nothing else to even try connecting to rule it out. &nbsp;But it was working just fine literally an hour before Amazon pushed the OS update, nothing has changed on the Netgear box, so logically the problem must be the tablet, right?<br /><br />One thing this has taught me is that wireless display technology sucks. &nbsp;It's still too new and suffers pretty much the problems you'd assume a wireless technology would suffer - namely signal interference and break-up. &nbsp;I'll take an actual cable over it any day of the week, and that may be the ultimate solution here. &nbsp;Bite the bullet and just use a box with an actual HDMI cable. &nbsp;There's the irony, I have a really cheap - and by technology standards "ancient" - Android tablet. &nbsp;It never got any updates after Gingerbread (Android 2.3.7 is what's on it). &nbsp;Consequently it can't run the latest versions of most of the apps I'd actually want to run on it. &nbsp;But, cheap as it is, it does have an HDMI port on it and plays crystal clear 1080p video when connected to the big flat panel in the living room. &nbsp;I mean, if I have to have the Kindle laying next to the TV to use the wireless display adapter it's actually closer to the TV than the length of the HDMI cable for the cheap, old tablet.<br /><br />Yet another reason I would never recommend anyone use a Kindle Fire tablet for a media center. &nbsp;Ugh.<br /><br /><b>UPDATE #5</b><br />I started thinking I had a two-fold problem. &nbsp;I still think that the OS update degraded the display mirroring, but I also began to think I had a problem with signal interference. &nbsp;Add to that the ancient age of my wireless router, which didn't even support wireless "n" connections and only used the 20MHz width, with no automatic channel selection - you had to pick one from a drop-down list. &nbsp;I had been given a "dead" router that was much, much newer and did support wireless "n" connections and automatic channel selection on either 20MHz or 40MHz. &nbsp;It was not new enough to support 5GHz, but the real problem was I only had it because the original owners said it stopped working and simply replaced it. <br /><br />After screwing around with it all afternoon I was finally able to reflash the firmware to it. &nbsp;The "Guest" wi-fi doesn't seem to work (dead radio?) &nbsp;but I wasn't going to enable it anyway, however the main wi-fi radio would drop the signal as soon as you tried to stream anything - then it would come back up, drop again - over and over and over. &nbsp;I found out that was a known problem with the firmware file I'd flashed and thankfully there was a much, much newer one available that had addressed that problem.<br /><br />Now that I have that in play the Kindle can connect at 2x the previous speed. &nbsp;This new(er) router also supports some features that are supposed to help improve streaming quality, though I can't say if the improvement is from them, the faster connection, or both? &nbsp;I also downgraded the firmware on the Netgear Push2TV to the same version it was running when this all worked properly. &nbsp;I had upgraded it in hopes it would fix things, but thought I'd better downgrade it to the "known good" firmware again. &nbsp;At the very least, to remove the possibility that different firmware was the culprit.<br /><br />When using display mirroring on the tablet it doesn't cut in and out or freeze like it used to (we'll see if it does during longer connections), but the range within which the tablet delivers a clear picture to the Netgear box seems ridiculously short, and I think the tablet is still going to end up on the table right next to the receiver - otherwise everything looks like a RealPlayer stream from the turn of the century.<br /><br />So, if you're experiencing this problem too make sure you're not using a "Router of the Ancients" and put the tablet physically closer to the Netgear box. &nbsp;I'd still have preferred an HDMI cable over all this finicky wireless display nonsense.<br /><br /><b>UPDATE #6</b><br />A couple days ago Amazon pushed the Fire OS 4.5.1 update to the tablet. &nbsp;Thankfully it didn't affect the display mirroring at all. &nbsp;It still doesn't work as well as it did originally, mostly that it seems like the signal it sends the Push2TV is weaker because there is a significant improvement in image quality by moving the tablet closer to the Netgear box. &nbsp;I should note that I don't have a huge living room either so before, at most, the tablet was only 7.5 feet away from the Push2TV and was clear. &nbsp;Ever since the previous OS update, though, the picture is noticeably lower in quality unless the tablet is within 2.5 feet of the Netgear box. &nbsp;It is as if something in the update cut the output power for display mirroring to about one-third its prior strength.<br /><br /><b>UPDATE #7</b><br />Yet another OS update and now it seems to be back to where it was in the beginning. &nbsp;I can hold the tablet in my hands on the couch and it's mirrored crystal clear in full HD on the TV across the room. &nbsp;Unless another update breaks it again I'm going to say it's fixed.<br /><br /><b>UPDATE #8</b>I tried adding another Profile to the tablet to use Amazon's "Family Library" feature. &nbsp;For whatever reason it caused the Display Mirror function to quit working?! &nbsp;Removing the added Profile fixed the problem. &nbsp;However, because of Amazon's "Household" policy you can't add the Profile back for (a rather crazy long) 180 days. &nbsp;So, fine, forget about Family Library I guess.<br /><br /><b>USING PLEX MEDIA SERVER</b><br /><br />As I noted above I have Plex Media Server installed on a Mac on the network that's typically turned on most of the time anyway. &nbsp;You have two different options for using it with your Kindle Fire HDX Media Server:<br /><br />1. Install the PleXBMC add-on. &nbsp;It's free, it just joins your other Video Add-Ons in XBMC/Kodi and that's really all there is to it.<br /><br />2. Install the Plex app for Android (it's available in the official Amazon App Store), but isn't free. &nbsp;I'd only do this if you weren't planning to use XBMC/Kodi at all, but preferred Plex. &nbsp;Remember, though, that Plex is <i><b>really an ecosystem</b></i> - to get full use out of it, and make sure ALL your videos and music files actually appear, you MUST follow the file naming conventions for it outlined on the Plex website - if you don't your files won't show up because it can't find the media info to download. &nbsp;The only way around that is to change the folder to a "Personal Library" which won't go looking for media info online. &nbsp;Also, go into the Plex app settings and under "Video" turn OFF the option to "Use Experimental Player" - this really shouldn't be enabled by default in my opinion. &nbsp;With it on I couldn't play ANY videos from the server. &nbsp;With it off I can play all of them.<br /><br /><br /><b>CONCLUSIONS</b><br /><br />My conclusion from this little exercise is that I would NOT recommend anyone buy a Kindle Fire tablet as a media center replacement for the following reasons:<br /><br />1. You won't have access to the Google Play Store, which has <i>far more</i> apps in it than Amazon's App Store does. &nbsp;Furthermore the apps in Amazon's App Store are often outdated compared to Google's store, which gets updates first. &nbsp;I'm still waiting for the Amazon App Store to update the Hulu+ app almost a month after the one in the Play Store was updated to allow access to most of the same free content you can watch through their website in a desktop browser. &nbsp;Many other apps are simply missing from Amazon's store. &nbsp;Yes, you can acquire many of them by other means and side-load them to the Kindle tablet - but you also have to manage future updates manually. &nbsp;And, no, you can't install the Google apps on it. &nbsp;They won't work.<br /><br />2. The 16:10 screen ratio on the Kindle tablet is a point of frustration. &nbsp;Unless (and <b>only</b> if) you are watching mirrored video fullscreen from Amazon's own Prime Video app you will <i>not</i> get rid of the "pillar boxed" picture on your HDTV. &nbsp;The tablet is technically capable of mirroring in 16:9 - since the Amazon Prime Video app does it - but this useful and obvious function is not made available to any other video apps and no options for it are available under Display Settings. &nbsp;If you intend to use a tablet as your XBMC media center get one that either HAS a 16:9 ratio screen or has proper settings to output a mirrored display in 16:9. &nbsp;I should point out that MOST of the Android tablets on the market also have 16:10 ratio screens, and on some of them it is Google Play Video that is the only one that will play full screen to an HDTV. &nbsp;It's really all down to whether or not output settings have been implemented for mirroring that allow you to adjust the screen resolution. &nbsp;There are also third party apps that can change the output resolution - but they all require a rooted device and may only apply the changes to tablet's screen, not the mirrored output. &nbsp;<b>This, in my opinion, is one of the biggest sticking points for me in recommending the use of ANY tablet as a replacement media center.</b><br /><br />3. A tablet running Android 4.2 or later will have the capability for true multiple user accounts on it, just like your desktop. &nbsp;Amazon's "Fire OS" however does not support this. &nbsp;Each Kindle Fire tablet can be registered to only ONE Amazon account. &nbsp;It comes with an app called "Free Time" that allows you to set up multiple "User Profiles" but this is primarily to limit what kids can access on it and how long they can use it. &nbsp;It does not provide TRUE multiple user accounts on the device. &nbsp;This may not seem like a big deal, but it means only the person who can actually make purchases on the tablet is the person to whom it is registered. &nbsp;It will ask for the password confirmation before the "One Click" buying goes through, but a user under a "Free Time" profile won't be able to make purchases and even if they could the purchases would be associated with the Amazon account to which the tablet is registered. &nbsp;Amazon, incidentally, says there is no way to move purchased apps, music, or videos from one Amazon account to another. &nbsp;If you have multiple users, especially each with their own Amazon accounts, a single Kindle tablet isn't going to do you much good.<br /><br /><b>UPDATE:</b> Since I wrote this Amazon introduced a "Family Library" feature that is supposed to allow multiple Amazon accounts to share content. &nbsp;In my own experience not only did it not share all of the content (only apps were shared), it broke Display Mirroring. &nbsp;Let's hope they fix this.<br /><br />4. To make proper use of a tablet as a media center hub/controller you are going to need <b>another </b>device on your network on which to store and serve up all your media files. &nbsp;This isn't a big problem if you already have a NAS full of digital video, music files, and photos. &nbsp;You can also use any computer on your LAN - but it should be one you leave turned on most if not all of the time and the media server software (Plex is a good cross-platform choice) will also have to be running in the background. &nbsp;You could also use another installation of XBMC as the media server and just minimize it, but it uses significantly more resources than Plex does. &nbsp;But it's an important point that the (very) limited storage available on a tablet isn't going to cut it if you have a lot of ripped discs and/or a gigantic digital music collection. &nbsp;You'll need a second system of some sort to serve up that media.<br /><br /><i><b>OPINION: XBMC name change to KODI</b></i><br /><i><br /></i><i>I've read their <a href="http://xbmc.org/introducing-kodi-14/" target="_blank">official announcement</a> and <a href="http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Kodi_name_change_FAQ" target="_blank">FAQ</a> about the name change, and the <a href="http://xbmc.org/a-call-for-kodi-logo-ideas/" target="_blank">backlash against it</a>. &nbsp;So I understand the legal and logistical &nbsp;reasons why they didn't throw open the renaming to the community. &nbsp;I consider myself part of that community even if I've never had the skills to contribute directly to the project (though I have submitted fixes for add-ons before). &nbsp;I've been using this software as my media center for years, and have installed it on multiple systems for both myself and others.</i><br /><i><br /></i><i>XBMC has been forked and spawned <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_software_based_on_XBMC" target="_blank">numerous projects based on it</a> - including Plex and Boxee. &nbsp;I do use Plex Media Server as my preferred background media server app on my Mac. &nbsp;But the greatest strengths of XBMC have always been that it is cross-platform and free. &nbsp;Plex, for example, charges for their mobile apps. &nbsp;The downside of XBMC is that add-ons are not "official" and are often easily broken when the source websites change structure or drop whatever API the add-on was using. &nbsp;Which doesn't bother me too much since I don't mind tinkering - or even combing through debug logs and trying to fix code (which is challenging since I actually don't know the programming language in which it is written).</i><br /><i><br /></i><i>But I'd have to say I'm in the camp that doesn't really care for the new name "Kodi" at all. &nbsp;It makes me think of a bratty little kid or a puppy. &nbsp;The devs seem to think that people don't like the new name because they are overly attached to the old name. &nbsp;But the comments on the new name make it pretty clear that it is the new name itself that is the problem. &nbsp;I'm certainly not overly attached to the old name. &nbsp;I've never even owned an Xbox, so that origination of the name holds no nostalgia for me. &nbsp;Whenever I've mentioned the media center software in conversation I can't recall one single person ever asking me what the name meant, though I've volunteered on occasion that it "was originally for the Xbox." &nbsp;I'm sure it was suggested and rejected for some reason, but XPMC (Cross Platform Media Center) would have been a better name change in my opinion. &nbsp;For wont of one fucking letter!</i><br /><i><br /></i><i>The criticisms that "Kodi" is too "childish" shouldn't be so quickly dismissed by the development team. &nbsp;It also didn't help that they used a very childish logo in the announcements on their blog (which thankfully is NOT the actual logo). &nbsp;Speaking of which there are some really talented (and some not so talented, but A+ for effort) people trying to make lemonade out of this lemon of a name - with some pretty good <a href="http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=201272" target="_blank">logo proposals</a>&nbsp;(and a lot of awful ones). &nbsp;So maybe, somehow, they'll salvage it - time will tell. &nbsp;Or some disgruntled group will fork it yet again under a better-liked name. &nbsp;But that's often the nature of open-source GPL software.</i></div>OffWorld Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239467069925469355noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780760006974194693.post-90678632179082632462013-05-14T11:58:00.003-07:002013-05-14T11:58:47.349-07:00Linux On My Laptop RepriseBack in 2008 I <a href="http://offworldgirl.blogspot.com/2008/03/linux-on-my-laptop.html">wrote a post</a> about putting Linux on my old&nbsp;HP Pavilion ZE4315US&nbsp;laptop. &nbsp;Well, I <i>still</i> have the darned thing and it was time to revisit the idea of putting Linux on it.<br /><br />This laptop came with Windows XP SP1 on it. &nbsp;That ran ok, but by the time I updated it to SP3 the hardware starts showing its limitations (or the software starts showing its bloat, take your pick). &nbsp;Windows Vista or Windows 7 are non-starters because of the low/outdated specs of the hardware, and despite Microsoft's claims that Windows 8 would support lower-spec hardware it won't even install. &nbsp;So for Windows I'm absolutely <i>stuck</i> with XP, which is close to its end of support.<br /><br />If you read my post from five years ago you'll recall I had problems finding a Linux distribution that would work with both the ATI Mobile graphics and my D-Link wireless card. &nbsp;Both those pieces of hardware were effectively disowned and disavowed by their respective manufacturers, so getting drivers was an exercise in futility. &nbsp;Ultimately, after trying several Linux distros I'd settled on Mandriva 2008 because at least everything worked.<br /><br />Fast forward to 2012 and the tiny 30GB hard drive in the laptop dies. &nbsp;I suppose most people would've just chucked it at that point, but as luck would have it I had a very old MP3 player that had an identical laptop hard drive in it. &nbsp;So I swapped the drive out and loaded up the "system restore" CDs. &nbsp;But, of course, I lost my Mandriva 2008 partition in the process, it's a badly outdated distro, and current versions didn't work. &nbsp;So I end up doing the "which distro dance" again. &nbsp;A couple thing that helped this time around is that the ATI (now AMD) open-source drivers better support the orphaned video chip and someone gave me a Netgear USB wireless stick, so I didn't have to worry about that D-Link card anymore.<br /><br />Nonetheless a number of distros I tried out didn't work. &nbsp;Ubuntu still caused the LCD panel to have that scary "bloom" effect and only the most recent ones would recognize the Netgear wireless. &nbsp;I tend to like Linux Mint, particularly with the MATE desktop environment (I really, seriously, dislike Ubuntu's "Unity" and Gnome 3). &nbsp;I've got Linux Mint on my home theater system, I put it on my brother's desktop system for him, so I was hoping it would work on my laptop too. &nbsp;Well the good news is that it DOES. &nbsp;The latest Linux Mint 14 gave me OpenGL graphics that work and recognized the wireless USB stick. &nbsp;The only hiccup was the actual installation process!<br /><br />There is a bug in the Ubiquity Installer that causes it to crash when it gets to the "copying file" phase and wants to show you a "slide show" of cool Minty features. &nbsp;Something about the slideshow causes the installer to crash and the install to fail. &nbsp;Thankfully it's an easy fix! &nbsp;While running the installer in the Linux Live session pop open a Terminal and enter:<br /><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: seagreen; font-family: Monaco, 'Andale Mono', 'Courier New', Courier, mono; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15.203125px;">sudo apt-get remove ubiquity-slideshow-mint</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: seagreen; font-family: Monaco, 'Andale Mono', 'Courier New', Courier, mono; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15.203125px;"><br /></span>Then it will succeed in the installation. &nbsp;So far the only problem I've had is Linux Mint can't seem to actually shut down the computer. &nbsp;It gets to the last "going down" screen and hangs, requiring me to long-press the power button to force the shutdown. &nbsp;But I can live with that.<br /><br />The main point is I have a CURRENT operating system on it, that's getting updates, and actually works about as well as Windows XP SP1 did on this hardware. &nbsp;So if you happen to have one of these old laptops in the back of a closet, or found one for a song on eBay, or unearthed one in an archeological dig, partition the drive and drop Linux Mint 14 on it. :-)OffWorld Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239467069925469355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780760006974194693.post-26458197345568451682012-02-17T13:15:00.000-08:002012-02-17T13:58:03.474-08:00The New Windows Logo<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j4H8aZ56SGM/Tz7I5bx4ZrI/AAAAAAAAAKI/5f8icy5a3Cc/s1600/6201.jpeg" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 67px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j4H8aZ56SGM/Tz7I5bx4ZrI/AAAAAAAAAKI/5f8icy5a3Cc/s320/6201.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5710222266587440818" /></a><div style="font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: left; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><br /></div><span style="font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><span style="font-size: 100%;">That there is the new Windows 8 logo. Yep, they've gotten rid of the "flag" and gone back to the original metaphor of a. . .wait for it. . .WINDOW!</span></span><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; ">In a post over on the official <a href="http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/b/bloggingwindows/archive/2012/02/17/redesigning-the-windows-logo.aspx?utm_source=twitterfeed&amp;utm_medium=twitter">Windows Team Blog</a> this is what they had to say about it:<blockquote></blockquote></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; ">Now, as a designer I have a few minor issues with this new logo.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Segoe UI', Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "></p><blockquote><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Segoe UI', Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">With Windows 8, we approached the logo redesign with a few key goals on mind.</p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Segoe UI', Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">1. We wanted the new logo to be both modern and classic by echoing the International Typographic Style (or Swiss design) that has been a great influence on our Metro style design philosophy. Using bold flat colors and clean lines and shapes, the new logo has the characteristics of way-finding design systems seen in airports and subways.</p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Segoe UI', Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">2. It was important that the new logo carries our Metro principle of being “Authentically Digital”. By that, we mean it does not try to emulate faux-industrial design characteristics such as materiality (glass, wood, plastic, etc.). It has motion – aligning with the fast and fluid style you’ll find throughout Windows 8.</p><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Segoe UI', Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">3. Our final goal was for the new logo to be humble, yet confident. Welcoming you in with a slight tilt in perspective and when you change your color, the logo changes to reflect you. It is a “Personal” Computer after all.</p></blockquote><p style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Segoe UI', Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "></p></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><ol style="font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><li><span style="font-size: 100%; ">The "window" element feels like an island unto itself rather than associated with the wordmark. My right brain is crying out for that to be to the right of the lettering.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: 100%; ">The dot on the "i" sticks up above the top line of the "W" and "d" for no apparent reason. I want that to be aligned properly.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: 100%; ">The dot on the "i" is a circle, and I feel it should be slightly oval-shaped to mirror the negative space in the "8" (it's a subtle thing, true, but it's a nearly subconscious way to help tie it all together).</span></li><li><span style="font-size: 100%; ">The "window" element is boring. Windows has long made use of the Red, Green, Blue, and Yellow blocks in the logo, and the "Metro UI" does actually use multi-colored blocks, so there is no good design reason I can see to drop color completely.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: 100%; ">The "window" element is slightly out of scale with the wordmark. The "far" end of the perspective on the window should be the same height as the "8" (again to help tie it all together).</span></li><li><span style="font-size: 100%; ">My last point is a legal concern (if I were hired to design this logo, that is) regarding the fact the "window" element on it's own is a "simple geometric shape." Typically the USPTO will not allow simple geometric shapes to be registered as trademarks since they are not distinctive enough. The same rule applies to copyrighting designs. Considering the "window" element WILL be used by itself, for example on computer keyboards for the ubiquitous "Windows Key," this potential legal issue with trademarking itseems an odd point to ignore.</span></li></ol><span><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span>It has also been pointed out that the perspective on the "window" element is wrong, that it is rectangular (like a flag) and not square (like a window) and the horizontal bar should be tapered. I'll grant that purposely doing it "wrong" might help make the "distinctive" argument for trademark purposes even if it is artistically annoying, so without knowing whether it was an actual mistake or purposeful I'm going to leave it alone.</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span><br /></span></div>So, without further ado, here is my quick and dirty reworking of the new logo addressing these points, and for easier direct comparison the actual logo. You decide - which do you prefer?</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><span><br /></span></div><div style="font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j4H8aZ56SGM/Tz7I5bx4ZrI/AAAAAAAAAKI/5f8icy5a3Cc/s1600/6201.jpeg" style="text-align: left; "><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j4H8aZ56SGM/Tz7I5bx4ZrI/AAAAAAAAAKI/5f8icy5a3Cc/s320/6201.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5710222266587440818" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 67px; " /></a><br style="text-align: left; "><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zBsXFRiBzQU/Tz7Isf9e4QI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/PzJpRLR4Ke4/s1600/windows-8-logo-big.png" style="text-align: left; "><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zBsXFRiBzQU/Tz7Isf9e4QI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/PzJpRLR4Ke4/s320/windows-8-logo-big.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5710222044371542274" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 69px; " /></a></div></div><div style="font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><br /></div><div style="font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><br /></div><div style="font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: Georgia, serif; "><span><br /></span></div>OffWorld Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239467069925469355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780760006974194693.post-5050340249779078792011-08-10T12:15:00.000-07:002011-08-10T13:28:17.639-07:00This Just In - Apple Sues Everyone on Earth!<i>"Apple Inc., makers of the Mac, iPhone, iPod, and iPad, announced today that they are suing everyone on Earth for infringement of their patent on various gestures including pinching or spreading fingers, rotating anything, touching anything with up to 10 fingers at a time, or sliding an index finger vertically or horizontally across any surface. Judges in Australia, Germany, and the United States have granted Apple an injunction barring individuals in those countries from using any of the gestures claimed by Apple. In a related suit Apple is suing the planet Earth itself for being round, claiming a trademark on circles in both Europe and the United States. Lawyers for the Earth countered that it is actually an 'oblate spheroid' and not a circle." - via Rooters News Service</i>
<br /><div>
<br /></div><div>I'm really disappointed in Apple these days due to the legal war they've declared on numerous other manufacturers - at last count Samsung, Motorla, HTC, JAY-tech, Kodak (which Apple lost) - and they're far from done. Apple has now won injunctions against Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 in two different courts, plus an injunction against German manufacturer JAY-tech. The local German court's decision applies to the entire European Union for some reason (even though local court decisions in many other matters don't appear to have such broad-reaching consequences).</div><div>
<br /></div><div>First of all Apple should have enough confidence in its products and customer loyalty (I'm sure we've all met our share of adherents to the Cult of Apple) to compete in the marketplace. Preventing competitors from entering the market via lawsuits is dirty, underhanded, cowardly, and I doubt it's actually profitable in the end. I've worked for tech companies in the past that preferred to spend their war chest on litigation against competitors rather than pour it into R&amp;D and actually improve their products and services. Think of the tons of cash Apple has blown on legal expenses pursuing these lawsuits in courts around the world! The shareholders would probably be angry if not for the fact that Apple's shares are overvalued - but as someone who got burned in the Dot.Bomb era (and especially with the current economic situation) that bubble is gonna burst. You'll also notice that Apple hasn't gone after Google itself over competition from Android devices - it's going after the device manufacturers. It's also not going after them over patent infringement - it's claiming infringement of trademarks, trade dress, "Community Design."</div><div>
<br /></div><div>They are able to do this because of some obvious problems with the EU Community Design and USPTO. Problems which NEED to be reformed to prevent these ongoing legal battles, but of course will NEVER be reformed because the government makes money in court filings and most of our so-called representatives are lawyers by trade - it's their industry that is making out like bandits over these suits. Furthermore, at least here in the United States, our government seems perfectly happy to let corporations draft the legislation and let the politicians they arguably own introduce it. That legislation is, not surprisingly, going to be beneficial to the corporate interests that wrote the bill. Fox in the hen house kinda stuff.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>In what way are Intellectual Property law and the agencies that register the claims broken? Well, for one Apple files "iterative" Community Design claims in Europe. They start with a rectangle, file that. Then add a round button. File that. Add a rectangular screen. File that. All the way up from generic drawings to actual photos of finished devices. And that allows them to sue other companies for infringement at any and every level of those iterative filings! If you think "Well, that's just silly Europe for ya'" think again. The USPTO granted Apple a trademark on any handheld electronic device with a rectangular shape and rounded corners. So, internationally, now Apple "owns" rectangles. You know, that ubiquitous shape for pretty much every phone and tablet computer available? Even when Apple isn't busy suing people to keep their allegedly "infringing" products out of the marketplace the government sometimes helps them out for free. I know of one person who purchased a large order of Chinese-made OEM (no name) 7" Android tablets for use at a school. US Customs seized them on the grounds that they were "counterfeit" iPads in violation of Apple's trademark. They were plastic, not aluminum. They were 7" 16:9 ratio screens, not a 4:3 9.7" screen. They were running a stock Android OS, not one "skinned" to look like iOS. Any FOOL could have been able to tell they weren't iPads, but that didn't matter apparently. Yet the FCC approved the Motorola Xoom, Galaxy Tab, Vizio Tablet, and a bunch of less well known products with exactly the SAME shape, and in some case the same size screen and aspect ratio. Such inconsistency in enforcement of IP rights is also indicative of how broken the system is.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>A lot of this is down to the officials at the filing offices. They are granting IP claims to companies for some astonishingly broad and generic things - you know, like rectangles. This I really don't understand because if you were trying to apply for a trademark on a logo of equally spartan design it would be refused on the basis that you can't trademark simple geometric shapes as logos - yet for some reason you CAN trademark them as the shapes of devices?! The USPTO also grants patents on really general things like gestures and processes - without requiring any specifics like actual code. This happens in no small part because the USPTO (and the patent offices in many other countries) don't require you to supply a working model or limit the claim to a specific application. So someone goes to the trouble and expense of figuring out how to write code or build a device that does something or another and then they get sued by someone else who was granted a patent on that something or other and wants compensation - even though they never implemented it or even figured out HOW to implement it.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>Of course companies claim they NEED to be able to apply for and protect an "idea" so they can secure investment money to implement it, and the patent (or pending patent) is an assurance to the investors that some other company isn't working on the same thing and might undercut them by coming to market first. But there seriously has to be a better way doesn't there?</div><div>
<br /></div><div>Nobody really knows how to fix the IP laws because they're so convoluted and there are so many interests involved who would resist any change, or only advocate changes beneficial to their own position. A good start, though, would be to reject claims for trademark or trade dress on simple shapes and patents on general things anyone could do (like gestures). Software patents should also be limited to particular applications, languages, or platforms. The code itself should rightly be protected under copyright, not patent law. Last but not least would be the addition of a "loser pays" clause for civil lawsuits to discourage frivolous suits or patent trolls looking for an easy payday (which should be illegal anyway as "unjust enrichment"). I'd go one step further and outlaw the formation of IP holding companies, whose only sole purpose is to sue others for infringing on properties in their portfolio for financial gain while producing and innovating nothing.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>Until such a mythical time arises, however, we're stuck with the current state of affairs. It appears Apple will continue to use it's gigantic multi-billion dollar war chest to launch attacks at any and every company they deem a potential competitor - and will continue to do so until they either run out of money to file the suits and/or the shareholders cry foul as Apple's product lines grow stagnant due to the lack of competition and the redirection of revenue away from product development and into the legal department.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>People, of course, could boycott Apple products to convey their distaste for these tactics - not that huge corporations EVER really feel the sting of a boycott. They frankly don't seem to take notice at all. For my part I'm seriously considering never, ever buying another Apple product no matter how cool, or neat, or good it is. Even if it's the only product legally allowed on the shelves.</div>OffWorld Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239467069925469355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780760006974194693.post-40157098967936064492011-07-25T08:48:00.000-07:002011-07-25T10:50:19.699-07:00Too Many Commodores!It sounds like some ol' Navy phrase - "Too many Commodores, not enough ships." No, I'm referring to the computer brand made famous by the Commodore 64 and Amiga in the 80's and early 90's.<div><br /></div><div>I wrote a previous post titled "<a href="http://offworldgirl.blogspot.com/2011/07/too-many-amigas.html">Too Many Amigas!</a>" about the brand dilution that is occurring by having too many companies producing completely different products under the Amiga name. Commodore itself has a similar problem because it too became fragmented after the company went bankrupt.</div><div><br /></div><div>The one you've probably heard about is Commodore USA, LLC. It's a Florida startup that is mostly using off-the-shelf components and systems and rebranding them. The only "original" thing they've got so far is a computer case that looks a lot like the original Commodore 64 filled with PC gear at a steep markup. They can do this because they have licensed the brand from Commodore International Licensing, BV which is in turn owned by a company named <a href="http://www.asiarim.net/">Asiarim</a> (Asia Rim - get it?) who have actually changed their name to "<a href="http://www.commodorecorp.com/index.html">Commodore Holdings Corporation</a>" as of March 2011. But Commodore USA, LLC apparently does not have an<i> exclusive</i> license to the name. Consider what it says at the bottom of their website:</div><div><br /></div><div><blockquote><i>Commodore® trademark used under exclusive worldwide license by Commodore USA, LLC for its line of AIO (All-In-One) keyboard computers, and is the trademark of Commodore Licensing, BV, registered in the United States and other countries.</i></blockquote></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div>Notice the exclusivity is conditional "for it's line of AIO (All-In-One) keyboard computers." Now why would that be in there? Oh, maybe because Commodore Consumer Electronics in the Netherlands and Commodore Consumer Electronics USA are respectively the European and American sales offices for Asiarim/Commodore Holdings Corporation (though the web addresses for the individual sales office sites seem to have disappeared).</div><div><br /></div><div>And what sort of things do they sell? Apparently several Commodore branded mobile devices, one of which<a href="http://offworldgirl.blogspot.com/2009/04/commodore-undead-computer-company.html"> I blogged about</a> back in April of 2009. In addition to what I knew about <a href="http://www.asiarim.net/projects.html">they also have listed</a> "Ultra Mobile" and "Mobile Internet" devices (the latter are kind of like smartphones without the phone part). As for where you could actually BUY these things? Probably nowhere. Those devices have apparently been listed for years and no products have actually ever shipped.</div><div><br /></div><div>And last but not least (well maybe least, I don't know how you'd measure these things) is Commodore Gaming located in the Netherlands (a subsidiary of the <a href="http://www.thecontentfactory.nl/EN/HOME.html">The Content Factory, BV</a>). They offer the official Commodore 64 game emulator app for the iPhone and Wii. They originally sold customized gaming PCs, but are no longer in the hardware business as I'm sure the app business is a lot more profitable. People seem a little confused as to what the deal is with this company. </div><div><br /></div><div>I've read that they were involved in a joint venture with Commodore International Corporation in 2005-2006 (which predates Asiarim/Commodore Holdings Corporation and their subsidiary Commodore International Licensing, BV) which has led some to believe Commodore Gaming has joint rights to the brand name. Even Commodore USA, LLC thought so and initially approached them about licensing the name for hardware in the North American market. However Commodore Gaming informed them that they'd need to talk to Asiarim's subsidiary Commodore International Licensing, BV for that. Why? Well, according to the<a href="http://moconews.net/article/commodore-in-227-million-jv-with-the-content-factory/"> terms of the $22.7 million joint venture </a>with Commodore International Corporation it was for a period of five years with an option to extend it another five years and it was CIC that would get a 49% stake in Commodore Gaming, not the other way around. However, during the term of this venture CIC ended up getting sold to Asiarim and one would assume the contract was simply transferred, meaning Commodore Gaming is, itself, nothing more than a licensee with only a few more years on the contract before they have to dissolve or negotiate a new license.</div><div><br /></div><div>What does this all boil down to? Well, Asiarim/Commodore Holdings Corporation is the closest thing to a reunited Commodore International since the bankruptcy, but they've never shipped a product. Commodore USA, LLC is shipping hardware and is the first company to bring the Commodore and Amiga brand names back under one roof, but is only a licensee of both and doesn't actually own the intellectual property rights to either. </div><div><br /></div><div>Of course this all could have probably been avoided if Irving Gould hadn't ousted Thomas Rattigan back in 1987. Rattigan turned the company around, not only steering it away from presumed inevitable bankruptcy but into the black $46 million in only a couple years at the helm. But suddenly Rattigan was replaced by Chairman Irving Gould. Rattigan later claimed he was ousted due to personality conflicts and Gould being upset that Rattigan got all the credit for saving the company. Gould, a venture-capitalist who'd been involved with the company for 20 odd years, believed that North American branch should be little more than a sales and marketing extension of the stronger European core of the company, rather than a semi-independent entity. His drastic downsizing and plant closings over his seven year reign ran the company into the ground, bankruptcy, and liquidation.</div><div><br /></div><div>Ok, you may be wondering why I even give a damn. It was like a lifetime ago, right? Well my first computer was a Commodore 64 and if I hadn't been exposed to coding back then I might have been too intimidated to tackle HTML back in the mid-90's which led to a career in the Internet industry. A Commodore 64C saw me through many a late-night writing college papers while my classmates were jockeying for time in the school computer lab. I lusted after an "Video Toaster" Amiga for video production but could never afford one. I've got the same nostalgic soft spot in my heart for the brand that a lot of people do, and but for the bad decisions of Mr. Gould I might be typing this from my shiny new iAmiga running AmigaOS 6.</div><div> </div>OffWorld Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239467069925469355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780760006974194693.post-76206842409216298582011-07-24T23:20:00.000-07:002011-07-25T00:38:20.161-07:00Too Many Amigas!No, I'm not talking about my Facebook friends list. I'm talking about the brand name "Amiga" as in those fantastic computers Commodore used to make in the early 1990's.<div><br /></div><div>Commodore may have gone bust, but Amiga never really went away. The properties have been bought and sold and passed around so much I'll just say if you want a lesson in how the vultures rip apart the carcass of a bankrupt tech company <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_International#Post-Commodore_International.2C_Ltd.">read the Wikipedia page</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you didn't bother reading that just know ownership of Amiga passed through a number of companies (including Gateway) until ultimately culminating in <a href="http://amiga.com/">Amiga Inc.</a> But here's where things get tricky! The current version of Amiga OS (yes they kept developing it!) belongs to a Belgian company called Hyperion Entertainment. Rights to update the previous versions belongs to a German company called Haage &amp; Partner. A new Amiga-compatible computer called the x1000 is being made by a Belgian company called A-Eon in partnership with Hyperion Entertainment and a British company called Varisys as the hardware partner actually delivering the goods.</div><div><br /></div><div>So where, you may ask, is Amiga, Inc. in all of this? Well, in 2001 they had entered into an agreement with the AmigaOne Partners (collectively Hyperion Entertainment and Eyetech Group Ltd), but that license agreement was terminated in 2006. Today Amiga Inc. only sells <a href="http://amiga.com/shop/">rebranded Linux and Android tablets</a> directly and through some kind of fundraising program for other organizations and has an embedded device software called "Amiga Anywhere" - thought exactly what it is and does is sort of vague. It apparently isn't vaporware as it was available on products from several "distributors, resellers, and marketing partners" - most of which no longer appear to be in business as their web sites are gone. Also, I think that 2007 support for Linux and Symbian devices isn't going to get anyone too excited (what with Symbian going the way of the dodo too).</div><div><br /></div><div>Ah! But that's not all folks, we have yet another company in the mix: <a href="http://www.commodoreusa.net/CUSA_Home.aspx">Commodore USA, LLC</a> The Florida startup with the resurrected brand name says they have also secured the rights to sell Amiga branded computers from - wait for it - Amiga, Inc.! For some reason the new Commodore has chosen to give these new computers the <a href="http://www.commodoreusa.net/CUSA_Amiga.aspx">same model numbers as original Amigas</a>. Furthermore these computers are no more Amigas than a Mac or a Dell. The cases look pretty cool but are nothing new or unique either and have been available since 2005 from <a href="http://www.karmadigital.com/products.html">Karma Digital's</a> distributors! You can buy the cases yourself for between $110 - $300, put in your own PC components, buy an Amiga sticker online and build your own better faux-Amiga and likely for less money. Commodore also says these will have "Commodore OS" on them, which I gather is just a Linux distro, and some mention of being <a href="http://aros.sourceforge.net/">AROS</a> compatible (most likely the "<a href="http://www.icarosdesktop.org/">Icaros Desktop</a>" distro of that). But that's not hard to do since AROS has been ported to the Intel-compatible architecture. Heck, I can boot up <i>Icaros Dekstop</i> on most of my computers, and some of them are pretty old.</div><div><br /></div><div><i><b>Side note:</b> For the uninitiated AROS is a free open source operating system that is mostly compatible with AmigaOS 3.1. There are distributions of it (much like there are different distros of Linux) with the most popular being "Icaros Desktop." There is also "<a href="http://www.aros-broadway.de/">AROS Broadway</a>" and "<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/arosaspireone/">AROS Aspire</a>." There is also "<a href="http://www.morphos-team.net/index.html">MorphOS</a>" (which is gorgeous btw) that isn't a distro but uses parts of AROS (MorphOS is only for the PowerPC architecture).</i></div><div><br /></div><div>If anyone from Commodore happens upon this blog post, well, I seriously want you guys to succeed because I loved my old C64 and lusted after an Amiga and want to see the company truly come back from the dead. But slapping some Commodore and Amiga stickers on off-the-shelf parts and rebranded systems and selling them for a huge markup to cash in on nostalgia isn't a sustainable business plan. Commodore was a true innovator who sold hardware that gave customers actual value. Maybe if they did that they'd have the revenue to BUY the name rather than just license it from Commodore Licensing, BV.</div><div><br /></div><div>So, anyway to sum up we have:</div><div>Haage &amp; Partner with the rights to update AmigaOS 3.x.</div><div>Hyperion Entertainment with the rights to AmigaOS 4.x.</div><div>A-Eon partnered with them and Varisys to make truly new Amiga computers.</div><div>Amiga Inc., selling rebranded tablets and licensing Commodore USA to pretty much do the same.</div><div><br /></div><div>It would be so nice if it was all under one roof again (or had never been sent to the four corners of the Earth in the first place). This brand dilution is only going to lead to confusion over what's what and what is a "real" Amiga reborn.</div><div><br /></div>OffWorld Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239467069925469355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780760006974194693.post-51990166399106413812011-05-10T07:32:00.000-07:002011-05-10T09:14:19.879-07:00"The Event" - More Hollywood HackeryI've been watching NBC's "The Event" since the first episode. Until last night's airing, though, I had thought it a reasonably "intelligent" show, at least by network standards. But now it has proved to be just more crap from Hollywood hacks.<div><br /></div><div>"Write what you know" is an old saying I bet most writers have heard, if not tried to employ. For some that means researching topics you don't know so you can write intelligently about them, for others it means sticking to what they already know. It's a good mantra because it becomes painfully obvious when a writer is talking out his ass and the only thing you're certain they DO know is how to tap the keys on their keyboard like one of those hypothetical monkeys banging out the Complete Works of Shakespeare.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>The Bomb</b></div><div>The Aliens have resurrected a particularly lethal strain of the Spanish Flu, with which they intend to wipe out all of humanity and make room for their own people. In a prior episode the virus escaped a makeshift lab aboard a Russian ship and killed all the humans on board.</div><div><br /></div><div>Sophia, the leader of the Aliens, says they need a better test case than the ship. The virus was "concentrated" and in an "enclosed space" so they don't know how truly lethal (or not) the strain is. If it kills people before they can spread it then it's of no use to the Aliens. So they hatch a plan to release the virus into a shopping mall full of people and monitor how long it takes people to die.</div><div><br /></div><div>A couple of the humans, FBI Agent Collier (who acts more like CIA - but that's another issue) and fugative Sean Walker both know about the virus and plan to stop the field test. By the time they get to the mall the Aliens are connecting the device to the building's ventilation system. The "bio-bomb" consists of a pressurized canister into which the virus was introduced, an electronic timer, and some refrigeration lines. This, of course, would NEVER work.</div><div><br /></div><div>First of all, the Aliens are immune to the virus, so what is the point of the timer on the bomb? Why did they even bother connecting it to the ventilation system at all? They could have literally walked through the mall exposing people to the virus (which is contained in the extracted lungs of a flu victim exhumed from the Siberian tundra). Furthermore, in order to put the virus in the pressurized canister, the Alien operative opens the container with the lungs in it outside on the roof of the mall - which should have released it into the atmosphere following the show's "logic" in how this virus spreads (more on that later). So the bomb itself is unnecessary for their field test, as is a timer to set it off after the Aliens are safely out of the area - because the virus doesn't affect them they're already safe!</div><div><br /></div><div>Ok, for a moment lets assume the bomb were necessary because for some reason the Aliens didn't want to be at the scene when it went off. Plumbing it into the refrigeration lines on the air conditioning system wouldn't disperse it into the mall! Air conditioners do NOT work by blowing refrigerant into a room, the refrigerant is a self-contained loop system. All their device would do is release the virus into a pressurized closed-loop system. Why can't we beat these Aliens if they're such morons?</div><div><br /></div><div>Oh yeah, because the humans are pretty stupid too. Sean Walker tries to disarm the bomb - and they've gone out of their way in the show to prove he's highly intelligent and resourceful. In fact they only knew where the Aliens were because he hacked into a rental car company's real-time GPS tracking to find the Alien's rental car. Walker starts pulling wires out of the bomb and can't make head nor tail of it, he reasons there must be a power source, there must be a solenoid that will open the valve - then as the counter ticks down he panics and SHOOTS THE BOMB! There is a pressurized container filled with the deadly virus screwed into the bottom of the bomb and he thinks shooting at it is a good idea? Ok, granted he admits he panicked, but he needn't have worried in the first place. After all, it was just going to release the virus into the pressurized refrigerant lines - but even if we suspend our disbelief further for a moment and assume that somehow those metal lines were capable of releasing the virus into the ventilation system, the easy solution would have been to just CRIMP THE LINES. Ever had a car with an A/C system that has a crushed line? Yeah, it doesn't do anything because it can't circulate the refrigerant.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Plan B</b></div><div>At the end of the episode we see that the Aliens scrubbed the field test at the mall and instead used a back-up plan - releasing the virus on a city bus. Um, but wait, didn't Sophia complain earlier that releasing the virus on the ship wasn't a good test because it was too concentrated and confined. It was an ocean-going freighter - vastly larger than a city bus. Releasing the virus on a bus would have been an even worse field test!</div><div><br /></div><div><b>The Virus</b></div><div>But that's not all, folks, she then goes on to discuss the underlying problem with the virus. It's TOO deadly. It kills humans before they have a chance to infect others. They need to make the virus a little less deadly. At that point she and her chief scientist, Dr. Lu, discuss how viruses mutate in intermediary species before they "jump" to humans in a different form. Sophia might want to get a different doctor on this because her explanation was wrong. Dr. Lu mentions "Bird Flu" becoming "H1N1" when it jumped to humans. Except H1N1 is Swine Flu, it is H5N1 that is Bird Flu. Never mind that viruses can mutate within a species too, they don't HAVE to jump species to mutate, but they do have to mutate to jump species.</div><div><br /></div><div>At the very end of the episode they decide to infect the only "hybrid" half-human-half-alien among them to create this less deadly version of the Spanish Flu. I assume the writers thought this made sense because humans die instantly from it, the Aliens are completely immune to it, so obviously the logical way to make the virus less deadly is to put it in a human-alien hybrid who theoretically is only partially immune, right? What?! </div><div><br /></div><div>First of all the reason the Aliens are immune is most likely because they were exposed to either that virus or a similar one and have antibodies to it. There can also be a genetic predisposition to viral vulnerability, which is obviously what the writers were also thinking - that the hybrid (Sarah) has at least partially inherited this vulnerability from her human mother. Except that doesn't really make any sense either - one theory for why the Spanish Flu has never re-emerged is that it killed off everyone who was predisposed to be susceptible to it, meaning every human alive right now is likely immune to strains of the Spanish Flu anyway.</div><div><br /></div><div>They've already established that the virus is delivered by airborne vectors, so why did they find it necessary to INJECT the hybrid with the virus? Oh yeah, because the writers totally don't understand how viruses, particularly flu strains, are transmitted through the air. When people sneeze or cough they aerosol sputum carrying the virus, that can subsequently be inhaled by others thus infecting them as well. But the writers have assumed this virus acts more like being exposed to gas. Granted the bio-bomb conceivably could have been set up to aerosol some kind of carrier medium laden with the virus, but it would still have been more effective to set that off in the middle of the mall rather than blowing it into the air ducts.</div><div><br /></div><div>Lastly, their experiment to inject the hybrid girl with the virus is less likely to produce a less-deadly version of it and more likely to mutate into a strain deadly to the Aliens. Why didn't they inject it into a pig or a monkey, since they'd already discussed mutation occurring in lesser species than humans. The human-alien hybrid is genetically more advanced than a regular human - she represents a "lesser species" to the Aliens, and therefore would be a perfect incubator for a mutation that could jump into the Aliens and kill them as well. It is possibly the single most stupid thing they could have done.</div><div><br /></div><div>Yeah, I think I'm probably done with this series.</div>OffWorld Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239467069925469355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780760006974194693.post-71174852680257234582011-04-20T10:21:00.000-07:002011-04-20T15:57:49.743-07:00Goodbye Sarah Jane :-(Last night news came out of England that one of most loved companions of "Doctor Who" passed away from cancer. Nobody but her close family apparently even knew she was ill. Elizabeth Sladen was her name. Dead at just 63 years old, but any age would be too soon really. <p class="p1">"Sarah Jane Smith" was her character. She was the last companion to Jon Pertwee's "Doctor" and the first companion to Tom Baker's. Anyone who ever watched Doctor Who likely considered Sarah Jane the Doctor's "first love" - though they never once had any romantic scenes they had a chemistry that made you suspect there were deeper feelings. Turns out that's because Lis Sladen was adored by the entire cast and crew at the BBC.</p><p class="p1">When she left the show the Doctor materialized the TARDIS to let her out, not on <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; ">Hillview Road as planned (and probably not even in South Croydon) but on a grassy hill in the middle of nowhere. She takes it in stride and heads off hopefully to civilization whistling a tune. The fans only knew she eventually made it home thanks to the failed </span>"K-9 and Company" spin-off pitched in the 80's. It never got picked up despite testing rather well - but I've seen the pilot episode and it's terrible, so I can only assume it garnered 8.4 million viewers because they wanted to see more of Lis Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith. Thankfully we don't have to remember her for that series.</p> <p class="p1">In the new Doctor Who series they wanted to bring back one of the Doctor's old companions for an episode and there was no question it would be Sarah Jane Smith. She returned more than once to the role in the new series because the fans ate up every appearance. That lead to a deal with the CBBC (Childrens BBC) for her own spin-off series called the "Sarah Jane Adventures" reportedly one of the most popular kids' shows ever on the BBC.</p> <p class="p1">Tom Baker wrote a wonderful tribute to her on his blog site recounting the first day he met her and how they immediately clicked. I always had this feeling that she was either a fantastic actress, or maybe she wasn't much of an actress at all and she was just playing herself. Turns out she wasn't far off from her character, which is probably why the fans felt she was so genuine. You just knew if you ever met her - either Sarah Smith or Lis Sladen - they were the same person and you'd instantly be friends with her. That's important when you're running for your life from Zygons I suppose. Her death took Tom Baker by surprise too - he had just signed a contract to do six new Doctor Who "audio drama" episodes with her at Big Finish.</p> <p class="p1">The very first episode of Doctor Who I ever saw was "Pyramids of Mars" - which I regard as one of the best Tom Baker episodes ever made - and Sarah Jane was his companion in that. I know a lot of Whovians watch the show and wish they were from Gallifrey and had their own TARDIS. But the Doctor is such a big character - an alien, a genius, a hero - that those are big shoes to fill. Scary big. I found that, while I loved the Doctor, it was usually the companions with whom I identified. The companions were attainable role models - all they have to do is be who they are, have a sense for adventure, and when the TARDIS materializes a willingness to see what wonders the depth and breadth of time and space have to offer. Since Sarah Jane Smith so defined the role of a Timelord's traveling companion she became the yardstick by which I've measured all others.</p><p class="p1">I suppose that's why I always have considered her to be the "first" companion to the Doctor, even though I've since seen the earlier episodes in the series and know others came before her - but none could replace her.</p>OffWorld Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239467069925469355noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780760006974194693.post-33938204883803755462011-02-04T12:32:00.000-08:002011-02-04T12:49:26.355-08:00iPad & Background ImagesThis is kind of annoying. I'm working on a website that has to work well on an iPad, so I've been checking things with the iOS Simulator and the iPad refuses to deal with full-coverage background images properly.<div><br /></div><div>To be clear, it will position a background where you tell it, it will tile a background how you tell it, it will even keep a background image fixed if you tell it. What it won't do is expand a fixed, centered background image to fill the screen. The maximum inner window sizes are 981 px and 1208 px. Even if the image is FAR larger than that in both dimensions it sits there scaled down - and if it's centered also with a white border around it.</div><div><br /></div><div>It completely ignores the -webkit CSS for fixed, centered, covering background images and uses the old CSS method, and it still doesn't do it right.</div><div><br /></div><div>So far the only solution I've found is pretty slapped together, but it works (sort of):</div><div><br /></div><div>1. Create a DIV and give it an ID something like "backdrop" (or whatever)</div><div>2. Put your background image inside it, in an image tag, with the height and width hard coded to ZERO. Why? If a user doesn't have CSS available they won't get this gigantic decorative image shoved in their face.</div><div>3. In your iPad stylesheet set the image like this:</div><div>#backdrop {position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0;height: 100%;width: 100%; margin: 0;}</div><div>#backdrop img {height: 105%;width: auto;margin:0;}</div><div><br /></div><div>If you have a sticky footer you'll need to add the negative margin-bottom to the backdrop DIV as well. Why is it 105%? Because if it isn't then you'll get a white strip down the right-hand side when the iPad is rotated horizontally. At least the image aspect ratio is maintained doing it this way.</div><div><br /></div><div>You'll want to make sure to hide the image for anything other than an iPad or it can become obvious what you've done in a desktop browser that can be resized. iPhone seems to do things properly, btw.</div><div><br /></div><div>Lastly, the best solution for right now is probably to use a background PATTERN that you can just tile, since the iPad seems to handle that correctly.</div>OffWorld Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15239467069925469355noreply@blogger.com1